1 50 4 https://omeka.beyncollective.com/files/original/e3aabf52a521f4a17431f2278d93d01c.jpg 2a8bba86975ac9da4bec4f5dc6afd6c1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The purest choice Subject The topic of the resource Motivation: In my work I focus on women’s rights. I wanted to do something about FGM in Egypt, because nobody knows about it – very few people at least. And for me, Egypt was a very good example for why it is so hard to fight the practice. It’s a taboo subject. The problem with Egypt as well is, that it’s a dictatorship. There is basically no action on the field. NGO’s have no freedom to do anything. And the traditions are still really anchored in society. Egypt is one of the countries where it’s the most widely spread, but yet with the least initiatives. The first time I came to Egypt I wanted to highlight something more positive. The initiatives, actions, the way the mentality is changing. After a few weeks I actually realized there are no initiatives – nothing. So I had to rethink: How could I highlight the change of mentality when there is no action. That is why I turned towards portraits women who chose to abandon the tradition. It’s still a work in progress. It’s incomplete. Description An account of the resource Work in progress ​ ​ We often tend to restrain Female Genital Mutilation to Subsaharan countries, unaware that the practice actually appeared first in Egypt in pharaonic times, while today 90% of the women aged 15-65 are still victims of circumcision. The khitan-“purification” in Arabic-is now a practice deeply rooted in the social fabric of the country, indifferent of social or religious background. Although the phenomenon has slightly decreased the last decade, the political turmoil and the weight of traditions relying on religious arguments are preventing the implementation of concrete initiatives with real impact. ​ My project therefore focuses on where actual change did occur; it focuses on women who took the decision to not perpetrate the practice despite social pressure. In the process, each woman becomes an activist at her own level. With the lack of effective “top to bottom”efforts, it's important to highlight stories of hope at the roots of society. ​ The project evolves around a series of portraits of these survivors of FGM, depicted with their daughters whom they refused to circumcise. Far from being the passive victims as whom they are usually depicted as, these survivors of FGM have used their own traumatic experience to create positive change. The portraits are a celebration of a possibility of progress, while pointing out the difficulties of the fight and the possible ways to overcome them. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Chloe Sharrock Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived https://www.sharrockchloe.com/the-purest-choice Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <ul><li>Amnesty International Magazine France</li> <li>Equal Times </li> </ul> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018-2019 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Approved to publish Relation A related resource Commissioned/supported/financed:self-initiated, self-financed Language A language of the resource English, French, Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Portrait photography Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Location: Upper Egypt, Cairo, Alexandria Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Umm Malek and Malek – Qalanfil, Delta of Egypt Umm Malek lives in a small muslim village in the Delta of Egypt. She got circumcised at 10 years old and remains profoundly scared by the trauma of that day. « You can easily forget what you’ve eaten on that day, or how the weather was. But you can’t forget the trauma, the pain… » Malek is now fully conscient of the long term consequences of such practice on her mental health as well as in her married woman’s intimate life. « What we tend to ignore is that many divorces happen because of that barbarian practice. Women and men come become unsatisfied, it leads to a lot of frustration and anger. ». After giving birth to a daughter, she started attending awareness sessions lead by a local NGO in a nearby village. The consequences she was facing herself combined to these sessions convinced her for good that she couldn’t perpetrate that practice on her daughter. « I simply couldn’t inflict such misery to my own daughter. I want her to be happily married. » At first, women of her village pressured her to circumcise Malek, threatening that she would never get her daughter married if she didn’t. « But I took these women to the awareness sessions with me, and since then, five of them decided to not cut their daughters ! » Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Chloe Sharrock depicting women female photographer interior multiple people per image non-Egyptian photographer https://omeka.beyncollective.com/files/original/be6df6102a41171b917a50c79937f1f8.jpg a5e2dde2c5a043093a7ed4805e583d25 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The purest choice Subject The topic of the resource Motivation: In my work I focus on women’s rights. I wanted to do something about FGM in Egypt, because nobody knows about it – very few people at least. And for me, Egypt was a very good example for why it is so hard to fight the practice. It’s a taboo subject. The problem with Egypt as well is, that it’s a dictatorship. There is basically no action on the field. NGO’s have no freedom to do anything. And the traditions are still really anchored in society. Egypt is one of the countries where it’s the most widely spread, but yet with the least initiatives. The first time I came to Egypt I wanted to highlight something more positive. The initiatives, actions, the way the mentality is changing. After a few weeks I actually realized there are no initiatives – nothing. So I had to rethink: How could I highlight the change of mentality when there is no action. That is why I turned towards portraits women who chose to abandon the tradition. It’s still a work in progress. It’s incomplete. Description An account of the resource Work in progress ​ ​ We often tend to restrain Female Genital Mutilation to Subsaharan countries, unaware that the practice actually appeared first in Egypt in pharaonic times, while today 90% of the women aged 15-65 are still victims of circumcision. The khitan-“purification” in Arabic-is now a practice deeply rooted in the social fabric of the country, indifferent of social or religious background. Although the phenomenon has slightly decreased the last decade, the political turmoil and the weight of traditions relying on religious arguments are preventing the implementation of concrete initiatives with real impact. ​ My project therefore focuses on where actual change did occur; it focuses on women who took the decision to not perpetrate the practice despite social pressure. In the process, each woman becomes an activist at her own level. With the lack of effective “top to bottom”efforts, it's important to highlight stories of hope at the roots of society. ​ The project evolves around a series of portraits of these survivors of FGM, depicted with their daughters whom they refused to circumcise. Far from being the passive victims as whom they are usually depicted as, these survivors of FGM have used their own traumatic experience to create positive change. The portraits are a celebration of a possibility of progress, while pointing out the difficulties of the fight and the possible ways to overcome them. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Chloe Sharrock Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived https://www.sharrockchloe.com/the-purest-choice Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <ul><li>Amnesty International Magazine France</li> <li>Equal Times </li> </ul> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018-2019 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Approved to publish Relation A related resource Commissioned/supported/financed:self-initiated, self-financed Language A language of the resource English, French, Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Portrait photography Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Location: Upper Egypt, Cairo, Alexandria Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Marsa and Barbara Anna –El Bashra, Upper Egypt Marsa also comes from a Coptic community, where circumcision is still widely spread. When she was inflicted with FGM at a young age, she suffered from severe bleeding, and had to remain in bed for more than a week. Complications such as infections, HIV or severe bleedings are common in such rurale areas where FGM is practiced with non sterilized razor blades or knives. Tales of women being told to sit in buckets of hot water to heal the wound is also regularly recalled, attesting of the absolute lack of medical attention these young girls receive. While growing up, Marsa couldn’t get rid of the trauma and the fear of that event. Thankfully, women in her village were slowly giving up on that tradition following the public discourses of the local priest taking position against that practice. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Chloe Sharrock depicting women female photographer interior multiple people per image non-Egyptian photographer https://omeka.beyncollective.com/files/original/aed7e5e5d3ca00e7279bb3b5f300bbfd.jpg fe57cf1493377a31c63d8ee350e0b31e Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The purest choice Subject The topic of the resource Motivation: In my work I focus on women’s rights. I wanted to do something about FGM in Egypt, because nobody knows about it – very few people at least. And for me, Egypt was a very good example for why it is so hard to fight the practice. It’s a taboo subject. The problem with Egypt as well is, that it’s a dictatorship. There is basically no action on the field. NGO’s have no freedom to do anything. And the traditions are still really anchored in society. Egypt is one of the countries where it’s the most widely spread, but yet with the least initiatives. The first time I came to Egypt I wanted to highlight something more positive. The initiatives, actions, the way the mentality is changing. After a few weeks I actually realized there are no initiatives – nothing. So I had to rethink: How could I highlight the change of mentality when there is no action. That is why I turned towards portraits women who chose to abandon the tradition. It’s still a work in progress. It’s incomplete. Description An account of the resource Work in progress ​ ​ We often tend to restrain Female Genital Mutilation to Subsaharan countries, unaware that the practice actually appeared first in Egypt in pharaonic times, while today 90% of the women aged 15-65 are still victims of circumcision. The khitan-“purification” in Arabic-is now a practice deeply rooted in the social fabric of the country, indifferent of social or religious background. Although the phenomenon has slightly decreased the last decade, the political turmoil and the weight of traditions relying on religious arguments are preventing the implementation of concrete initiatives with real impact. ​ My project therefore focuses on where actual change did occur; it focuses on women who took the decision to not perpetrate the practice despite social pressure. In the process, each woman becomes an activist at her own level. With the lack of effective “top to bottom”efforts, it's important to highlight stories of hope at the roots of society. ​ The project evolves around a series of portraits of these survivors of FGM, depicted with their daughters whom they refused to circumcise. Far from being the passive victims as whom they are usually depicted as, these survivors of FGM have used their own traumatic experience to create positive change. The portraits are a celebration of a possibility of progress, while pointing out the difficulties of the fight and the possible ways to overcome them. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Chloe Sharrock Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived https://www.sharrockchloe.com/the-purest-choice Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <ul><li>Amnesty International Magazine France</li> <li>Equal Times </li> </ul> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018-2019 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Approved to publish Relation A related resource Commissioned/supported/financed:self-initiated, self-financed Language A language of the resource English, French, Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Portrait photography Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Location: Upper Egypt, Cairo, Alexandria Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mariana, Yoanna and Febroina – Mallawi, Upper Egypt Mariana was circumcised on the same day as her sister and a dozen of young girls taken to the same house, one day after school. There, they were circumcised one after the other by a local da’ya (a village midwife). « Everybody was screaming, some girls tried running away… It was absolutely awful, and we weren’t even told what was happening except that it was for our own good ! » But a decade ago, Father Aghethaton, the coptic priest of the village, started militating against that practice. Through preaches at the church, awareness sessions and discussions with the mothers of the village, he slowly started eradicating that practice. His successor is now following his path, while almost half of the women of that community has supposedly abandoned the practice. Social pressure and religious arguments are often the two main barriers to the eradication of FGM. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Chloe Sharrock depicting women female photographer interior multiple people per image non-Egyptian photographer https://omeka.beyncollective.com/files/original/825ba75bf2e076c4fa9e7b5791f7f137.jpg 0b13517ac9d0620fc98f4ae4210bf763 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The purest choice Subject The topic of the resource Motivation: In my work I focus on women’s rights. I wanted to do something about FGM in Egypt, because nobody knows about it – very few people at least. And for me, Egypt was a very good example for why it is so hard to fight the practice. It’s a taboo subject. The problem with Egypt as well is, that it’s a dictatorship. There is basically no action on the field. NGO’s have no freedom to do anything. And the traditions are still really anchored in society. Egypt is one of the countries where it’s the most widely spread, but yet with the least initiatives. The first time I came to Egypt I wanted to highlight something more positive. The initiatives, actions, the way the mentality is changing. After a few weeks I actually realized there are no initiatives – nothing. So I had to rethink: How could I highlight the change of mentality when there is no action. That is why I turned towards portraits women who chose to abandon the tradition. It’s still a work in progress. It’s incomplete. Description An account of the resource Work in progress ​ ​ We often tend to restrain Female Genital Mutilation to Subsaharan countries, unaware that the practice actually appeared first in Egypt in pharaonic times, while today 90% of the women aged 15-65 are still victims of circumcision. The khitan-“purification” in Arabic-is now a practice deeply rooted in the social fabric of the country, indifferent of social or religious background. Although the phenomenon has slightly decreased the last decade, the political turmoil and the weight of traditions relying on religious arguments are preventing the implementation of concrete initiatives with real impact. ​ My project therefore focuses on where actual change did occur; it focuses on women who took the decision to not perpetrate the practice despite social pressure. In the process, each woman becomes an activist at her own level. With the lack of effective “top to bottom”efforts, it's important to highlight stories of hope at the roots of society. ​ The project evolves around a series of portraits of these survivors of FGM, depicted with their daughters whom they refused to circumcise. Far from being the passive victims as whom they are usually depicted as, these survivors of FGM have used their own traumatic experience to create positive change. The portraits are a celebration of a possibility of progress, while pointing out the difficulties of the fight and the possible ways to overcome them. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Chloe Sharrock Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived https://www.sharrockchloe.com/the-purest-choice Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available <ul><li>Amnesty International Magazine France</li> <li>Equal Times </li> </ul> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018-2019 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Approved to publish Relation A related resource Commissioned/supported/financed:self-initiated, self-financed Language A language of the resource English, French, Spanish Type The nature or genre of the resource Portrait photography Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Location: Upper Egypt, Cairo, Alexandria Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Irine and Monika – El Bashra, Upper Egypt Irine comes from a small Coptic village in Upper Egypt. She was circumcised one day after school, when she was 12 years old. She doesn’t have much memories of it, but says she’s still deeply traumatized by the violence of the event. She got married at a young age, and gave birth to six kids. Two of them died during the delivery. Consequences of FGM are indeed going way beyond psychological trauma, since obstetrical complications can occur to the victims, such as post-partum hemorrhage, need of episiotomy, tearing of the tissues or flesh, while the rate of death among new born babies is higher. After the birth of her first daughter, she had long discussions with her husband about FGM. « He actually supported my choice, I think he understood it didn’t have anything to do with religion and could only arm Moneka. His family, however, didn’t accept our choice, and still pressure us today. » Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Chloe Sharrock depicting women female photographer interior multiple people per image non-Egyptian photographer