Boy child circumcision is genital mutilation

Well, a dear sister mentioned something about female genital mutilation today. Female genital mutilation is one of the most heinous crimes committed against the girl child under the sun.

I don’t know how prevalent the practice is in Botswana but I am told it exists, in some form, in some tribes. I am yet to understand why we don’t have a specific law against it. But then, we woke up the other year to the reality that we didn’t have a law on the private possession of human tissue. In fact, if Africa, the problem goes beyond the decimation of the genitalia.

It extends to facial and other features. Almost invariably, the practices are done with the specific intention of making the girl child more attractive to his culturally privileged counterpart - the boy child. The practice engenders the thinking that the girl’s child was created to be a tool of sexual satisfaction for the boy child and that how she looks both outwardly and inwardly, must conform to the unfortunate stereotype.

Editor's Comment
Routine child vaccination imperative

The recent Vaccination Day in Motokwe, orchestrated through collaborative efforts between UNICEF, USAID, BRCS, and the Ministry of Health, underscores a commendable stride towards fortifying child health services.The painful reality as reflected by the Ministry of Health's data regarding the decline in routine immunisation coverage since the onset of the pandemic, is a cause for concern.It underscores the urgent need to address the...

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