Citation

Tell K. Reprod Freedom News 1999; 8(4): 4-5.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Center for Reproductive Law and Policy)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12349047

Abstract

In France, Mariatou Koita, a woman born of Malian parents, endured female genital mutilation as a child at the hands of another Malian immigrant. When the mutilator returned years later to perform genital mutilation on Koita's younger sister, Koita took action that resulted in the first case of female genital mutilation tried in France upon the complaint of a victim. The mutilator was sentenced to 8 years in jail for mutilating 48 young girls in the period 1983-94, and 23 mothers and 3 fathers received prison or suspended prison sentences. Women are struggling against another form of sexual violence in South Africa, where Johannesburg is gaining the reputation as the "rape capital" of the world. Surveys by a nongovernmental organization (NGO) have revealed that a third of 4000 women interviewed were raped in the past year and that 25% of the boys in a sample of 1500 school children considered gang rape a recreational activity. In response, the NGO is creating recommendations to address the problem in schools and to raise the role model profile of men who oppose sexual violence. Also, in Wynberg, Western Cape, a special Sexual Offenses Court has been created to mitigate some of the difficulties rape victims have encountered with the legal system. Global studies indicate that most victims of sexual assaults are adolescent girls.

Language: en