Partnership project against violence against women, IDIL, 2002-2003 http://www.eu-idil.org/idil/ Daphne project
IDIL (somali female name that means intact), is a DaphneProgramme project 2001/2003 .
The project is aimed at defining and experimenting strategies to prevent FGM among immigrant communities/families.
Female genital mutilation, constitutes all procedure which involves partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injuries to female genital organs both for cultural and any other non therapeutic reasons, and has been classified in 4 types. The age at which the mutilation is carried out varies. FGM is carried out during infancy, childhood, up to adult age. Several reasons are given to justify FGM: custom and tradition; religion (purification); hygiene (cleanliness), aesthetic reasons; virginity protection to increase marriage opportunities. FGM has immediate consequences: severe pain, shock, haemorrhage, tetanus or sepsis, urine retention, ulceration of genital and adjacent tissues. Long term consequences:cysts and abscesse, keloid scar formation, urinary incontinence, dyspareunia and sexual disfunction. Most of girls and women who have undergone genital mutilation live in 28 African countries, although some live in Asia. They are also increasingly found in Europe, Australia, Canada and USA, primarily among immigrants from Africa and Asia.
Dr. Tobe Levin Freifrau von Gleichen
Collegiate Professor, University of Maryland University College in Europe
www.forward-germany.de
www.mtholyoke.edu/~tflevin
Female Genital Mutilation
Refereed Articles, edited books
Forthcoming:
“Introduction.” Korn, Fadumo with Sabine Eichhorst. Born in the Big Rains. Between Africa and Germany. Trans. Tobe Levin and Rosa von Gleichen. NY: The Feminist Press.
“FGM in the African diaspora: serving the wounded and promoting change.” In: FGM in Pregnancy and Childbirth. Ed. Nicolette Clark. London: Elzevier, 2006.
Levin, Tobe and Patty Turrisi, eds. Violence: “Mercurial Gestalt.” Papers from the 2003 Cultures of Violence conference at St. Catherine's College, Oxford, sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Net. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
"The Creative Writing of FGM as an Act of Violence and Human Rights Abuse." In Violence: “Mercurial Gestalt.” Papers from the 2003 Cultures of Violence conference at St. Catherine's College, Oxford, sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Net. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Editor (with Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana). FGM and Creative Writing. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Appeared:
"Female Genital Mutilation: Campaignsin Germany." Engendering Human Rights: Cultural and Socio-economic Realities in Africa. Ed. Obioma Nnaemeka. NY: Palgrave Macmillan at St Martin's Press, 2005. 285-301.
"Die Würde des Menschen ist Unantastbar." [Human Dignity is Inviolable] Schnitt in die Seele. Weibliche Genitalverstümmelung -- eine fundamentale Menschenrechtsverletzung. [Wounded Soul. FGM - a fundamental human rights abuse] Ed. Terre des Femmes. Frankfurt am Main: Mabuse-Verlag, 2003. 88-94.
"Female Genital Mutilation and Human Rights." Comparative American Studies. An International Journal. Special issue on human rights. Guest eds. Werner Sollors and Winfried Fluck. Vol. 1 (3) 2003. 285-316.
"Ill at Ease with Mariam, Gloria Naylor's Infibulated Jew." Holding Their Own: perspectives on the multi-ethnic literatures of the United States. Eds. Dorothea Fischer-Hornung and Heike Raphael-Hernandez. Tübingen: Stauffenberg, 2000. 51-66.
"Alice Walker: Matron of FORWARD." Black Imagination and the Middle Passage. Eds. Maria Diedrich, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Carl Pedersen. NY: Oxford UP, 1999. 240-254.
"Dos milliones cada año durante cuántos años más? Hacia la abolición de la mutilación genital femenina." La Construcción cultural de lo Femenino. Eds. Amparo Gómez Rodríguez and Justine Tally. Tenerife: Universidad de la Laguna. Centro de Estudios de la Mujer, 1999. 75-104.
"Abolition Efforts in the African Diaspora: Two Conferences on Female Genital Mutilation in Europe." Women's Studies Quarterly 1999, 1 & 2. "Teaching About Violence Against Women." NY: The Feminist Press. 109-116.
"Die Klavierspielerin: On Mutilation and Somatophobia." 'Other' Austrians. Post-1945 Austrian Women’s Writing. Ed. Allyson Fiddler. Proceedings of the Conference, Post 1945 Austrian Women’s Writing, University of Nottingham, From 18-20 April 1996. Berne: Peter Lang, 1998. 225-234.
"Women as Scapegoats of Culture and Cult: An Activist’s View of Female Circumcision in Thiong’o’s The River Between." Ngambika. Studies of Women in African Literature. Ed. Carole Boyce Davies and Anne Adams Graves. Trenton, NJ: Africa World P., 1985. 205-221.
"'Unspeakable Atrocities': The Psycho-sexual Etiology of Female Genital Mutilation." The Journal of Mind and Behavior. 1:2, Autumn 1980. 197-210. Revised version of "Warum geschehen all diese Greueltaten an Frauen? Versuchen wir eine Erklärung, suchen wir nach den Begründungen-- und den Gründen." [Why do these things happen to women? Let's look for the reasons -- and rationalizations] Trans. Gabriele Geiger. Materialien zur Unterstützung von Aktionsgruppen gegen Klitorisbeschneidung. [Documentation for groups against clitoridectomy] Eds. Ingrid Braun, Tobe Levin, Angelika Schwarzbauer. Munich: Verlag Frauenoffensive, 1979. 55-62.
Editor (with Ingrid Braun and Angelika Schwarzbauer). Materialien zur Unterstützung von Aktionsgruppen gegen Klitorisbeschneidung. [Documentation for groups against clitoridectomy] Munich: Verlag Frauenoffensive, 1979.
Journalism, Reports and Reviews
Forthcoming:
"On FGM in France." Rev. of Isabelle Gillette-Faye and Robert Toubon, eds. Comment lutter contre les mutilations génitales féminines ici et là-bas? Paris: Equilibres & Populations, 2002 and Françoise Couchard. L'Excision. [Que sais-je?] Paris: Editions universitaire de France, 2003 in Feminist Europa. Review of Books. www.stiftung-frauenforschung.de
Appeared:
„Female Genital Mutilation and Advice.“ Final Report of the UNICEF Conference Female Genital Mutilation in Europe, March 7, 2005 in Zürich. Zürich: UNICEF Schweiz and Bendesamt für Gesundheit, 2005. 32.
"Darstellung der gesellschaftlichen Ursachen und Analyse der kontinuierlichen Praxis weiblicher Genitalverstümmelung, Motive und Begündungen." [Social Background to and Analysis of the on-going practice of female genital mutilation, reasons and rationalisations] Expertentreffen zur Überwindung der weiblichen Genitalverstümmelung. [Expert Meeting on Abolition of FGM. Documentation] Berlin: Auswärtiges Amt [Ministry of Foreign Affairs], 2003. 29-36.
"Between the Feasible and the Transformative." Rev. of Shirin M. Rai. Gender and the Political Economy of Development. From Nationalism to Globalization. Cambridge: Polity, 2002. In The European Journal of Women's Studies. 10 (3) 2003. 351-353.
"Internet-Based Resources on Female Genital Mutilation." Feminist Collections. A Quarterly of Women's Studies Resources. Vol. 23, No. 3, Spring 2002. The University of Wisconsin System: Women's Studies Librarian. 19-24.
"FGM Research in Law and Medicine in Germany." Rev. of Rosenke, Marion. Die rechtlichen Probleme im Zusammenhang mit der weiblichen Genitalverstümmelung. [Legal Problems in relation to FGM]. Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang, 2000 and Okroi, Eiman. Weibliche Genitalverstümmelung im Sudan. "Female Genital Mutilation." [FGM in the Sudan] Hamburg: Akademos 2001. Feminist Europa. Review of Books. The German Foundation for Gender Studies. Heidelberg. Vol. 2. No. 1, 2002.
"Female Genital Mutilation: Recent Contributions in German." Rev. of Hermann, Conny, ed. Das Recht auf Weiblichkeit: Hoffnung im Kampf gegen die Genitalverstümmelung. Bonn: Dietz, 2000; Schnüll, Petra/ Terre des Femmes, eds. Weibliche Genitalverstümmelung: Eine Fundamentale Menschenrechtsverletzung. Göttingen: Terre des Femmes, 1999; Diaby-Pentzlin, F. and E. Göttke, eds. Einschnitte. Materialband zu Female Genital Cuttings (FGC). Eschborn: GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit), 1999; Kirchenamt der Evangelischen Kirche Deutschland (EKD), ed. Genitalverstümmelung von Mädchen und Frauen. Eine kirchliche Stellungnahme. Hannover: Kirchenamt der EKD, 2000. Feminist Europa. Review of Books. The German Foundation for Gender Studies. Heidelberg. Vol. 1. Nos 1 & 2. 2001. 8-24.
Editor, with Joy Keshi Ashibuogwu. Weibliche Genitalverstümmelung. Künstlerinnen und Künstler aus Nigeria klagen an. Exhibition Catalogue. [FGM. Nigerian Artists Protest a Rite] Frankfurt: consellgruppe, 2000. See http://www.forward.dircon.co.uk/germany
Click on Exhibition.
"Internationale Initiativen gegen genitale Verstümmelung." [International efforts to end FGM] (with Ulrike Brown). Weibliche Genitalverstümmelung. Eine fundamentale Menschenrechts-verletzung. Eds. Petra Schnüll & terre des femmes. Terre des femmes: Tübingen, 1999.
"Klitorisverstümmelung: Mitten in Europa." (with Temesgen Melzer). [Clitoridectomy in Europe] Emma. Nov/Dec. 1998. 56-57.
"For A while, 'Even a Gaasha [Foreign Non-believer] is a Gaban Gudban [Closed, Virgin]....''" Rev. of Charlotte Beck-Karrer. Löwinnen sind sie. Gespräche mit somalischen Frauen und Männern über Frauenbeschneidung. Bern: eFeF, 1996. European Journal of Women’s Studies 5/3 & 4, November 1998. 533-536.
"Maintaining the Body’s Integrity." Rev. of Efua Dorkenoo. Cutting the Rose. Female Genital Mutilation. The Practice and Its Prevention. London: Minority Rights Group, 1994. European Journal of Women’s Studies. 3/3. August 1996. 315-318.
"Netzwerk 'Genitalverstümmelung': zur Gründung einer deutschen Sektion von FORWARD." [Networking on FGM: Toward the founding of a German section of FORWARD] Terre des femmes RUNDBRIEF 2/1995. 20.
"Von Schwester zu Schwester." [Sister to Sister] Emma. September 1985. 27.
"Gegen Verschleierung des Gehirns: Interview mit Nawal el Sa'adawi." [Against veiling of the mind: an Interview with Nawal el Sa'adawi] Emma. September 1985. 28-29.
Rev. of Warrior Marks a film by Pratibha Parmar, executive producer Alice Walker, 1993; and Warrior Marks. Female Genital Mutilation and the Sexual Blinding of Women by Alice Walker and Pratibha Parmar. NWSA Journal 6/3. Fall 1994. 511-514.
"6.000 am Tag, 2 Millionen im Jahr....." [6000 each day, 2 million each year ...] and "FORWARD: Hoffnung für die nächste Generation." [FORWARD: Hope for the next generation] Terre des Femmes RUNDBRIEF. 3/4.1994. Tübingen: terre des femmes, 45-47.
"Frau, warum weinst du? Weibliche Beschneidung im Sudan und ihre Folgen. Dr. Tobe Levin (TDF) im Gespräch mit Asma El Dareer, Sudan." [Woman, why do you weep? Female circumcision in the Sudan and its consequences. Interview with Asma el Dareer] Terre des femmes RUNDBRIEF 1. 1992. Tübingen: terre des femmes, 18-19.
"Frauen im Kampf" [Women in struggle: Documentation of early 1980 initiatives against genital mutilation] Terre des femmes RUNDBRIEF II/91. 12 – 15 [including reprint of "Solidarische Rassistinnen." Emma. February 1983]
"Cutting out Circumcision." Rev. of Olayinka Koso-Thomas. The Circumcision of Women: A Strategy for Eradication. London: Zed, 1988. The Women’s Review of Books. 5/8, May 1988. 5-6.
"Solidarische Rassistinnen: Bericht über eine Konferenz in Senegal." [Racist solidarity: Report on a conference in Senegal] Emma. February 1983. 63.
"Klitorisbeschneidung." [Clitoridectomy] Courage. 10 October 1982. 16.
"Genital Mutilation – The Unspeakable Atrocity." Manushi 8. 1981. 39-42.
"Klitorisbeschneidung." [Clitoridectomy] Emma. December 1980. 46.
Part 2. Jewish Women, Gender and the Holocaust
Refereed Articles
"Ilona Karmel," Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature. Ed. Emmanuel S. Nelson. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2005. 1213-1215.
"Jo Sinclair." Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature. Ed. Emmanuel S. Nelson. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2005. 2040-2041.
"Alicia Appleman-Jurman." Holocaust Literature. An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work. Vol. 1. Ed. S. Lillian Kremer. NY: Routledge, 2003. 64-66.
"Cecilie Klein." Holocaust Literature. An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work. Vol. 1. Ed. S. Lillian Kremer. NY: Routledge, 2003. 656-658.
"Blanca Rosenberg." Holocaust Literature. An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work. Vol. 2. Ed. S. Lillian Kremer. NY: Routledge, 2003. 1027-1029.
"Aranka Siegal." Holocaust Literature. An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work. Vol. 2. Ed. S. Lillian Kremer. NY: Routledge, 2003. 1159-1162.
"Feminism: Jewish." Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women. Global Women's Issues and Knowledge. Vol. 2. Eds. Cheris Kramerae and Dale Spender. NY: Routledge, 2000. 775-780.
"Jewish Women in Germany" (with Susanna Keval). Jewish Women 2000: Conference Papers from the Hadassah Research Institute on Jewish Women at Brandeis University International Scholarly Exchanges 1997-1998. Eds. HRIJW and Helen Epstein. Waltham, MA: Hadassah Research Institute on Jewish Women Working Paper 8, November 1999. 203-232.
"Pouvons-nous appliquer les principes de la critique littéraire féministe aux écrits de femmes sur l’Holocauste?" [Can we apply principles of feminist literary criticism to women's Holocaust writing?] Féminismes et nazisme. En Hommage à Rita Thalmann. Ed. Liliane Kandel. Paris: Publications de l'Université Paris 7, Denis Diderot (CEDREF), 1997. 250-259; rpt. In Féminismes et nazisme. Ed. Liliane Kandel. Paris: Odile Jacob, 2004. 250-259.
"Die Jüdische Frauenbewegung in Deutschland." [The Jewish Women's Movement in Germany] ‘Fremdes’ oder ‘Eigenes’? Rassismus. Antisemitismus. Kolonialismus. Rechtsextremismus aus Frauensicht. [Foreign or domestic? Racism, anti-Semitism, Colonialism and Rightwing Extremism from the Perspective of Women] Ed. Renate Nestvogel. Frankfurt am Main: Verlag für Interkulturelle Kommunikation, 1994. 86-100.
Journalism, Reports and Reviews
"Holocaust Scholarship and Voices of Women." Rev. of Elizabeth R. Baer and Myrna Goldenberg. Experience and Expression. Women, the Nazis, and the Holocaust. Detroit: Wayne State U.P., 2003. European Journal of Women's Studies. 2005 in The European Journal of Women’s Studies. 12/4, November 2005. 497-499.
"An Israeli 'Joan of Arc'? Gender in Holocaust Research." Rev. of Baumel, Judith Tydor. Double Jeopardy. Gender and the Holocaust. London: Valentine Mitchell, 1998 and Fuchs, Esther, ed. Women and the Holocaust. Narrative and Representation. Studies in the Shoah Volume XXII. Lanham, MD: University P. of America, 1999. European Journal of Women's Studies. 9/1, February 2002. 82-97.
"Gender and the Holocaust." Rev. of Dalia Ofer and Leonore J. Weitzman, eds. Women in the Holocaust. New Haven: Yale U.P., 1998; S. Lillian Kremer. Women's Holocaust Writing. Memory and Imagination. Lincoln, NE: U. of Nebraska P., 1999; and Da Costa, Denise. Anne Frank and Etty Hillesum. Inscribing Spirituality and Sexuality. Trans. Moscha Hoyinck and Robert E. Chesal. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers U.P., 1998. European Journal of Women's Studies. 7/2, May 2000. 345-351.
"Gender and the Holocaust." Rev. of Marion Kaplan. Between Dignity and Despair. Jewish Life in Nazi Germany. NY: Oxford, 1998. European Journal of Women's Studies 6/2, 1999. 246 - 248.
Rev. of Marian A. Kaplan. Jüdisches Bürgertum. Frau, Familie und Identität im Kaiserreich. Trans. Ingrid Strobl. Hamburg: Doelling und Galitz, 1997. Feministische Studien. 16/1 May 1998. 128-130.
"Assimilation, Jews and Gender." Rev. of Paula E. Hyman. Gender and Assimilation in Modern Jewish History: The Roles and Representations of Women. Seattle & London: U. of Washington P., 1995 and Jessica Jacoby, Claudia Schoppmann, and Wendy Zena-Henry, eds. Nach der Shoah geboren. Jüdische Frauen in Deutschland. Berlin: Elefanten P., 1994. European Journal of Women’s Studies. 4/3 August 1997. 405-411.
Rev. of Nach der Shoah geboren. Jüdische Frauen in Deutschland. [Born after the Shoah: Jewish Women in Germany] Eds. Jessica Jacoby, Claudia Schoppmann, Wendy Zena-Henry. Berlin: Elefanten P., 1994. Bridges. A Journal for Jewish Feminists and Our Friends. 5/2. 1996. 111-118.
"Women, War and Peace: The Vision and the Strategies." Conference Report. Bridges. A Journal for Jewish Feminists and our Friends. 5/1. 1996/5756. 97-99.
"Feminism and Nazism." Conference Report. Bridges. A Journal for Jewish Feminists and our Friends. 3/2. 1993/5753.120.
Dr. Tobe Levin Freifrau von Gleichen
Collegiate Professor, University of Maryland University College in Europe
Editor and Activist
Martin Luther Str. 35
60389 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
Telephone + 49 69 45 96 60
Fax + 49 69 46 40 69
Cell + 0177 749 40 62
www.forward-germany.de
www.mtholyoke.edu/~tflevin
6