World's 1st Clitoral Repair Hospital for FGM Victims to Open in West Africa on March 7

2월 09 2014, 종류: 보도자료
LAS VEGAS, Feb. 10 - The world’s first clitoral repair hospital for victims of female genital mutilation (FGM), located in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, will open on March 7, according to a statement released today by the U.S.-based, nonprofit organization Clitoraid. Chantal Compaore, First Lady of Burkina Faso, will preside at the ceremony.

The hospital was built with donated funds and through the efforts of worldwide volunteers.

“Having Chantal Compaore support and presence on March 7 is such a wonderful way to celebrate this opening!” said Clitoraid Communications Director Nadine Gary. “She has been a steadfast voice against the horrors of FGM, and we’re honored that she will be there.”
Gary said hundreds of women are already on Clitoraid’s waiting list to have the surgery, which will be free for any woman who wants it.

“Their wait is almost over,” Gary said. She said the new facility, called “the Kamkaso,” which means “the house for women,” has been nicknamed “the Pleasure Hospital,” since the surgery “will restore their dignity as women as well as their ability to experience physical pleasure, which was taken from them against their will.”

Gary went on to explain how the idea of the hospital came about.

“After spiritual leader Maitreya Rael heard about a clitoral repair procedure developed by a French surgeon, he launched Clitoraid and the idea of building clinics that offer free surgery for FGM victims. After the United Nations adopted a resolution banning FGM, there’s been universal agreement that it’s a violation of human rights and the integrity of individuals. And eliminating FGM is essential for women’s health, so governments must keep passing laws against it. But Rael realized that it’s also important to repair the damage already caused to living victims. This hospital is the result of his vision.”

Gary said Clitoraid volunteer surgeons from the United States, Dr. Marci Bowers, M.D., and Dr. Harold Henning Jr., M.D., will perform surgeries at the new hospital and also train other surgeons to do it.

“The goal is to help as many victims as possible have this surgery, which will also help discourage the barbaric practice of FGM,” Gary said. “When its effects can be surgically reversed for free, what would be the point?”






At the AVN in Las Vegas, Clitoraid volunteers dress in sexy nurses outfits to promote a humanitarian cause

1월 17 2014, 종류: 보도자료
Clitoraid, a Las Vegas-based, non-profit organization dedicated to helping victims of female genital mutilation (FGM), has the opportunity to spread the word about its humanitarian cause in what would seem to be a most unusual venue: The Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE) held at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas from Jan 16-17.

Clitoraid's AEE-sponsored booth is being kept by an international team of Clitoraid women volunteers dressed in sexy nurses outfit selling "Clit Candy on a stick". Lia Steinman, Clitoraid's event organizer is delighted to be part of this fundraising event in such a "hot" surrounding. "It is so much fun to be in this environment where sex is not a taboo for a change and where we can make a difference in the lives of genitally mutilated women with our fundraising sweet trays" Lia stated.

Attendance is in the tens of thousands.

Sexual toys, accessories and apparel of all flavors, shapes and forms are everywhere. So when people walk by the Clitoraid booth, our logo must first seem to them like just one more sexual enhancement gimmick. That is, until the picture of the beautiful young African woman featured in the logo catches their attention.

When they stop by the booth to see what it is all about, the Clitoraid representative explain that the organization isn't focused on "enhancing a woman's sexuality," but rather on literally restoring her sexuality surgically to undo the the horrible act of Female Genital Mutilation.

Upon hearing this and additional details, people readily reach for wallets and pocket books and give generously to help open Clitoraid's Pleasure Hospital in West Africa in 6 weeks.

Clitoraid follows liberating Raelian values about nudity and sexuality advocated by spiritual leader Rael, who founded the charity. Rael has vowed to help humanity rid itself of outdated religious values that plague people's sexual lives, especially women's.

MY BODY! MY RIGHT! Conference at Laval University, Quebec, Canada

11월 28 2013, 종류: International NEWS
Tuesday, November 19, as part of the campaign "I love my body , I love my rights", held at the Université Laval in Quebec City, a conference was organized by the Committee Amnesty International of the Faculty of Law. The organizers chose the still taboo theme excision, a subject that is not spoken of, but yet leaves millions of women and girls injured for life.

They invited André Gaumond, Raelian filmmaker, to present his film "Excision , an evil that still hurts" and Aminata and Habibata, two young African women who have undergone female circumcision, to share their experiences. It was an emotional evening.

First, Andre's film reveals a facet of excision that is not visible, the horror lived by
 these women who are circumcised, the trauma remains throughout their life. Through the testimonies of circumcised women and doctors, the film sheds light on so many social wounds that remain in the lives of millions of women, as female circumcision is more than amputation of a small piece of flesh, it's the amputation of dignity and self-confidence.

Link to the film, click HERE

Aminata, who participated in Gaumond's documentary, experienced circumcision at the age of 6. Already affected by polio, she underwent a second handicap through excision. But just like other females both young and old, she did not speak about it, because we do not talk about circumcision. It is normal to be circumcised. It is only as an adult that Aminata realized that excision is not normal when a woman from her village could not have sex on the night of her wedding night, because of the excision. The husband could not penetrate her. They brought the gynaecologist, but he could do nothing. They even brought in the circumciser to remedy the problem. The husband was asked to penetrate her in the following day so the wound would not close. This is when Aminata realized all the evil that circumcision causes. She decided to talk, never be silent, because circumcision is not normal.

Habibata was also excised at 6 years of age. She was taken by force and they cut her clitoris with a razor blade. She cried. She bled. It was painful and pain has always remained in her body and in her heart. When she was with other young women and they were talking about sexuality, about their experiences, she could not say anything, she felt left out, because she did not know the sensations her friends were talking about. She had nothing to say. "Female circumcision is not limited to the clitoris, it also cuts something in your head, it takes away self-confidence," she said. When she learned that a technique was developed to repair the clitoris, she decided to restore her clitoris in order to witness to other circumcised women and say, "It works!". This simple decision, however, has not been so easy, everything was confused in her head. At each step, she relived her circumcision, again and again. Before the restoration of her clitoris, she first had to treat the psychological scars from the excision, but she had the courage to go through it. Then, three months after contacting Clitoraid, she went to San Francisco to meet Dr. Marci Bowers, to undergo surgery and to repair her clitoris, great hope for all circumcised women to regain their dignity!

"Although there is still a lot of social and legal work to do to counteract FGM, there is hope" it's on this note that law professor Louise Langevin, concluded the evening, as she presented the legal the developments that are occurring internationally to fight against this extreme violence done to women.

Clitoraid organizes worldwide ‘Silent Walks’ against female genital mutilation; To be held on Nov. 25, U.N.’s ‘Elimination of Violence Against Women Day’

11월 25 2013, 종류: 보도자료
Clitoraid organizes worldwide ‘Silent Walks’ against female genital mutilation;
To be held on Nov. 25, U.N.’s ‘Elimination of Violence Against Women Day’

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 24 – “Ban Ki-moon, General Secretary of United Nations, says the world must unite to end violence against women, but although everyone knows that includes rape, sexual slavery and beatings, ending the barbaric practice of Female Genital Mutilation is equally important,” said Nadine Gary, director of communications for Clitoraid, a U.S.-based international nonprofit organization, in a statement released today.

For the U.N.’s annual “International Day to End Violence Against Women,” Nov. 25, Gary said Clitoraid is planning “Silent Walks” directed against FGM as well as against rape, conjugal violence and other violent acts against females. [See for Silent Walk times and locations.]

Clitoraid has been fighting against FGM since 2006.

“We provide clitoral repair surgery for FGM victims,” Gary said. “Clitoraid was founded after Rael, spiritual leader of the International Raelian Movement, learned of a new surgical procedure that can restore the clitoris of genitally mutilated women. Clitoraid was his idea, and next March, in Burkina Faso, West Africa, we will open the world’s first hospital dedicated to providing this surgery for free, for any woman who wants it.”

Clitoraid’s medical staff is composed exclusively of volunteers.

“Volunteer surgeons like Dr. Marci Bowers and Dr. Harold Henning will go to Burkina Faso to launch this historical humanitarian mission,” Gary said. “Thanks to these doctors’ generosity and to modern science, FGM victims will regain the sense of physical pleasure they were so cruelly deprived of. Their dignity as women will finally be complete.”

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 165 million women and girls are now living with consequences of FGM. Although many are Africans, Gary pointed out that the problem is worldwide in scope.

“Although about 92 million FGM victims live in Africa, additional millions now live in the Americas and Europe as a result of immigration,” she explained., adding that the genital mutilation of innocent young girls and infants constitutes “an abomination totally against human rights.”

“Article One of the Universal Charter of Human Rights says all human beings are born free and equal in their rights and dignity,” Gary pointed out. “That means the integrity, dignity and autonomy of their physical bodies, including their sexual organs, must never be violated against their will.”
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