Issue (3pts):
Female Genital Mutilation/ Cutting
II. Kairos (4pts):
In July 2013 UNICEF published the largest report yet into the extent of FGM. (Report “Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change.”)
In July 2013 Germany also passed the first law against FGM, including a maximum penalty up to 15 years jail sentence. With this newly introduced law Germany is now considered to be among the strictest persecutors of female circumcision in Europe (Desert Flower Foundation).
III. Questions (3pts):
A: Theoretical:
What is the nature and origin of FGM?
Why should we abandon it?
What are the causes for FGM?
B. Practical:
Where and when is FGM practiced?
Why do people practice FGM?
Who is involved in FGM?
C. Specificity:
General:
Is it a good or a bad thing?
What is FGM exactly?
Should it be regulated?
More Specific:
Are traditions a good or a bad thing?
Can FGM be classified as degrading?
Should it be regulated in Africa?
Even More Specific:
Is it a good or a bad thing to maintain traditions?
Can FGM be classified as torture?
Should the West help to regulate it?
Very Specific:
Is it a good or a bad thing to give priority to traditions instead of to human beings?
Is torture a violation of human rights?
Would the regulation by the West be motivated by unethical motifs such as feelings of superiority or attraction of attention?
IV. Using the stases to generate material:
1. Questions of Conjecture (4 x 3pts = 12pts)
Does it exist? Is it true?
According to UNICEF 125 million women in 29 countries have undergone this procedure. It therefore proves its existence. The report is from July 2013, thus current.
Where did it come from? / How did it begin?
There is no exact proof where this tradition has its origin, but Discovery News states that FGM was mentioned in Egyptian historical documents:
According to Salima Ikram, Strabo, a Greek