Civic Engagement

My civic engagement project is related to anti-female genital mutilation. Female genital mutilation is part of a cultural purification ceremony that is conducted for girls between the ages of 6 months to mid-teens and, in some cases, early twenties. This is done in one of four ways. Clitoridectomy is a partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals). In very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris) is removed. An excision is a partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are "the lips" that surround the vagina). An infibulation is a narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner or outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris. However, there are other harmful procedures involving the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.

This cultural practice has surpassed the test of time and continues to live on in the wide span of Africa, from the east to west coast particularly in the centralized countries. Here at The Washington Center, some other students and I are trying to help pass H.R. 5137, "the Girls Protection Act", which would make it a felony to try to transport young women to Africa for the purposes of this procedure. With FGM already being banned in the United States, we are trying to close the loophole in this law. This bill is being sponsored by Democratic Congressman Joseph Crowley from New York and Republican Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack from California. An anti-FGM organization founded by a group of African women in New York took the first steps toward creating this bill in order to stop their daughters from being transported. I think that since I have come to D.C in the fall during the political high point of campaigning season, it was a little more difficult to lobby on Capitol Hill for anti-FGM, but we still made progress.

Taking my Passion

The first service I did that directly impacted people in the community was participating in the End Modern Slavery Walk by staffing the FGM Table. I single-handedly created pamphlets and post cards to send to members of congress for the entire group.  The purpose of this activity was to inform and gain support from members of the community by helping them send letters to their congressmen to let them know that not only are people aware of the situation, but they are also in support of the bill and want action. We helped over 400 citizens from across the nation sign post cards to their congressmen.

The second public service we provided was lobbying on Capitol Hill.  For this, I also created a non-traditional cover letter, so that our purpose was clear. Each member of the FGM Civic Engagement Project attended meetings with congressmen or their aids in attempts to gain support and have the bill tabled in the next term. I attended a meeting with top legislative aides for Congressmen Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Mississippi (David Greengrass) and the Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner Pedro Peirlusi (Jonathan Thessin). I informed them of the bill along with other members of our group. We actively engaged them in conversation about the bill, their take on the bill, the proposed position the congressmen would take on the bill, and their own personal opinion about African Americans of strong African descent having to endure this procedure. At the end of the term, we had three congressmen sign the bill and others express support without positively confirming that they were going to sign it. The bill already had 156 members of congress in support, with 9 having been lobbied by Washington Center students last semester.

By completing this service, I have changed as an individual and as a woman. I have learned that being a feminist is not shaped by the domestic problems of the women in your nation but on a global scale.  Regardless of your own personal feelings about politics or global treaties, we each carry a responsibility to help others and to save the next generation of leaders. This, in itself, will enable me to continue to fight for FGM. I have already made several contacts with professors at my university who had expressed interest in helping even before I arrived at The Washington Center. Now, armed with this experience, I am able to go back and to inform others on a personal and cultural level, in hopes that they will take action and become more involved and engaged students.

Making it Happen

The bill was sent to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security in June, and we have not allowed it to sit idle hoping that one day someone will pick it up again and bring it back to life. I know that as long as this bill is not passed, the efforts will continue. If you are a prospective student thinking of participating in this civic engagement project, know that the greatest thanks you will receive is knowing in your heart that you have joined a movement that is bigger than yourself. Do not participate for the awards, the thanks or the recognition. Join because you have a neice, a mother, an aunt, a cousin, or a daughter and you consider every woman a part of your global family. If you can do that, be selfless enough to put yourself in the position that some of the African mothers or daughters are in. Then you will be part of the reason why this bill will one day become a law and we will have a strong deterrent for this horrible practice.

I will continue to fight for girls domestically and internationally until this horrible practice has ended. I urge you all to deeply reflect on what you are passionate about and find a way to make it happen. Through this project, I advanced my skills related to each of the three pillars of The Washington Center: civic engagement, professional achievement, and leadership. I was engaged above and beyond what was expected, I remained cordial and professional, I learned lobbying skills, and I took the initiative to lead and create something that was instrumental to this project. I hope you all do the same.