Sexual and Reproductive Health
Every year around 350,000 women die as a consequence of pregnancy and birth—and of this, 99 per cent occur in developing countries although most deaths could be prevented (read more >). DSW implements development projects and does advocacy work in order to increase access to health care services. Attention needs to be raised to assure a healthy young population and safe motherhood. Therefore, sexual and reproductive health and rights need to be a subject that is advanced to the top of the political agenda.
Our basic concept refers back to the Cairo Programme of Action of 1994. Ever since, sexual and reproductive health has become a major concern around the world. Starting in 2000, eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were signed by 189 member states of the United Nations (UN). MDG 5 aims to combat maternal deaths by decreasing its number by three-quarters and assuring universal access to reproductive health. Today, this remains the MDG with the least progress.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
- Bild: Carsten Luther
An estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women in the world are victims of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). In addition to life-long traumas, they often suffer from potentially fatal infections, bleeding and complications during childbirth. The harmful practice is among the main reasons for the high maternal mortality rates in Africa and Asia.
FGM is mostly performed by laypersons using primitive tools such as knives, glass cullets or razor blades to remove the clitoris, often with partial or complete excision of the labia majora. The most severe form of genital mutilation includes cutting the labia minora. The intervention is carried out without anesthesia.
This inhumane tradition is practiced in 28 countries of Africa and parts of Asia and the Middle East. The girls on whom the operation is performed are often under 14 years old. Through the cutting, they are supposed to enter into adulthood in a "clean" condition. Women on whom FGM has not been performed are often not considered as adequate wives by the respective ethnic groups.
Since the UN General Assembly of December 1993, Female Genital Mutilation is considered to be a specific form of violence against girls and women and thus an act of human rights violation, as confirmed by the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 in Cairo at which its abolition was demanded.
