50en_vio ... Violence

Efforts to end violence against women

Safa Suleiman, MA Candidate in Public Policy
Graduate School of International Studies University of Denver, Colorado, U.S.A

I am excited to announce to the activists pursuing the eradication of FGM that our state of Colorado, in the United States, recently passed a law making FGM a child abuse crime!

Dear members,

I am excited to announce to the activists pursuing the eradication of FGM that our state of Colorado, in the United States, recently passed a law making FGM a child abuse crime! Myself and three other researchers from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver lobbied in support of the ban and also conducted research as part of a project for our course on Human Rights and the International Refugee System taught by Peter Van Arsdale, PhD.

The bill was introduced in 1996 by Senate Democrat Dorothy Rupert of Boulder, Colorado. She learned about FGM when she was participant in the UN Conference on Women in Beijing. She was convinced of the grave health effects and the overall torture that is inflicted on young girls on different levels during the course of a woman's life and wanted to use her political power as a senator to introduce this bill and make it a child abuse crime in Colorado. The bill failed each year until now. The bill also allocates substantial funding to educate the community about FGM and cultural awareness among other things.

Colorado has a sizable Muslim community which is estimated at around 20,000 people. There is a sizable Ethiopian-Christian and Somalian community here. Contrary to what people may think, immigration will not stop, and the bill is not meant incarcerate people. It is measure to deter people who immigrate to Colorado and who espouse these cultural practices to find other means to educate their girls and young women about chastity in a non-torturous, non-threatening manner. This practice will not be tolerated in Colorado.

Good luck in your continued efforts to end violence against women. If you have any questions please feel free to email.

Safa Suleiman, MA Candidate in Public Policy Graduate School of International Studies University of Denver, Colorado, U.S.A