Labor Pains In the midst of a civil war, becoming a mother was its own battle. Melinda Gates has me thinking about the time I became a mother. When the Gates Foundation co-chair recently said that improving family planning for the global poor is her new personal mission — and that she is making it a top…
Liberian journalist hides, for reporting sexual mutilation Mae Azango is a journalist in Liberia. She’s in hiding fearing for her safety after breaking a national taboo and writing a story about a secret sect that practices female genital mutilation. (Photo: New Narratives) On March 30 it was reported thattraditional tribal leaders have agreed to…
Monrovia, Liberia: When Kulah Borbor’s daughter was 13 years old, she asked her mother if she could join Liberia’s secret Sande Society. Most Liberian women are members of the Sande, so her daughter’s request was nothing unusual. But Borbor, a gender-based violence officer with the West Point Women for Health and Development Organisation, immediately discouraged…
Monrovia – Traditional leaders and government ministers have revealed a secret agreement to shut down the activities of Liberia’s secret women’s society, the Sande, for an indefinite period. The deal will see all Sande land turned over to the leaders of the Poro men’s society. A ceremony handing over the land from the women to…
The cultural practice of female genital cutting is rampant in Liberia, especially in the countryside. Parents send girls as young as infants to ceremonies conducted by a secretive indigenous religion known as the Sande to be cut without knowing the health risks involved. But openly talking about this secret rite of passage is taboo here. …
DOCUMENT – LIBERIAN POLICE MUST TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TO PROTECT JOURNALIST AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC STATEMENT 13 March 2012 Liberian Police Must Take Immediate Action to Protect Journalist Mae Azango, an investigative journalist based in Monrovia, is receiving death threats after publishing a story in FrontPage Africa uncovering the practice of female genital mutilation of girls [FGM]…
The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on the Government of Liberia to protect NN Fellow Mae Azango and her newspaper FrontPage Africa after threats they received for a story on female genital cutting in the country. Mae faced big challenges convincing victims to talk about the practice because it is part of an ancient…
