This edition’s cover is a stark image taken in 2015 of a woman from Mombasa, Kenya, showing off one of the tools she used to cut young girls’ sexual organs in what is sometimes called ‘female circumcision’ but is more commonly regarded as ‘female genital mutilation’ (FGM).
Unlike male circumcision, FGM impairs a female’s sexual and reproductive functions. Although this practice was made illegal in Kenya in 2011, it is still common in remote villages.
Our story on this topic is about The Salvation Army’s work in Tanzania, where FGM is also illegal and prosecution is not well enforced. In December 2016, over 800 girls were subjected to FGM in northern Tanzania. This despite the Tanzanian Parliament saying anyone who causes a girl under 18 to undergo FGM has committed an offence of cruelty to children.
How do you take a stand against something that is such a long-standing cultural practice? Surely that’s too hard! Well, Tanzanian Salvation Army officer Captain Lucy Chacha doesn’t think so. A survivor of FGM, God challenged Lucy to use her story to make change for the next generation of girls. The prompt for Lucy to become an activist came in response to one question: What have you done in your societies to make a change?
If that’s a question that pricks your conscience, I’d suggest you take a look at our article on page 14 about September’s Just Action conference in Auckland. Held regularly since 2008, these gatherings are an opportunity to hear from the best speakers on a wide range of important social issues and to network with others who also want to see their societies change for the better.
Christina Tyson
Editor
Romans 12:12 Contemporary English Version
Let your hope make you glad. Be patient in time of trouble and never stop praying.
Rōma 12:12
Kia hari i runga i te tumanako; kia manawanui ki te whakapāwera; kia ū ki te inoi.