International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting
Press Statement
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of StateWashington, DCFebruary 6, 2012
Today, we mark the ninth annual International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C). It is estimated that 100 to 140 million women around the world have undergone this brutal procedure and three million girls are at risk every year. We must continue to act to end this affront to women’s equality and the rights and dignity of women and girls.
No religion mandates this procedure, though it occurs across cultures, religions, and continents. It is performed on girls in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Even in the United States we are fighting this practice. FGM/C became a federal crime in the United States in 1997, but the procedure persists in some communities. The U.S. Government is working with practitioners in the health and legal community to educate groups about the negative consequences of FGM/C.
Over the years, community advocates have found that when men come to understand the physical and psychological trauma FGM/C causes, they often become effective activists for eradication, including fathers who refuse to allow their daughters to be subject to the procedure. Communities must act collectively to abandon the practice, so that girls and their families who opt out do not become social outcasts. This approach has led around 6,000 communities across Africa to abandon the practice, usually through a public declaration. Communities working together can ensure stronger, healthier futures for girls and young women.
Every government has an obligation to protect its citizens from such abuse. As we commemorate International Day of Zero Tolerance and remember those who have been harmed, we reaffirm our commitment to overturning deeply entrenched social norms and abolishing this practice. All women and girls, no matter where they are born or what culture they are raised in, deserve the opportunity to realize their potential.
Secretary Clinton: International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting
February 6, 2012 by still4hill
Madam Secretary, if you retire from public service who will speak for these millions? Nobody.
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Yet every day that goes by she is closer to stepping aside. I don’t think she will ever abandon these issues. In some ways, as a private citizen, WJC has a broader scope and is accomplishing more than he did as POTUS. The same could be true for her, but that said, this country missed out BIG TIME with that RBC decision on 05/31/01 and the resulting charade on the Denver convention floor.
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I still don’t get how the dnc is allowed to hand delegates to someone that no one voted for in michigan. Was it Hillary’s fault that the president left his name off the ballot?
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No it wasn’t. It was completely unfair and, I believe, against the rules!
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I get post-traumatic flashbacks watching the Republican primaries…
Iowa – where three candidates essentially split the vote evenly, but that didn’t stop Chris Matthews from trumpeting that HRC’s quest fir the nomination had gone from inevitable to improbable over night.
New Hampshire – the media frenzy over HRC’s misting over briefly
North Carolina – the Obama campaign issues a four-page memo to the press implying that HRC’s comment that it “took LBJ to make MLK’s dream a reality” was a deliberate racial smear. As was Bill’s comment that Jesse Jackson won North Carolina but list the nomination. Smearing Geraldine Ferraro as racist for good measure.
Florida…Michigan…Never mind that she clobbered Obama. Doesn’t count.
And that was all before Super Tuesday.
And the sexism. The unrelenting sexism. Don’t get me started…!
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We will never forget. Never!!!!
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I know. All of that – when I think about it – just gets me all enraged again. BUT I hope you saw Chris’s “Let me finish…” tonight. My mouth was agape! Seriously! He used a baseball analogy about how managers watch the pitchers and when it’s hopeless they march out there and take the ball. He said Americans are good managers and we took the ball from Gerald Ford and George HW Bush even though we liked them. He ended by saying that Obama is on the mound and if he can’t pitch, we’ll bring in a reliever. Seriously. My mouth was agape!
Oh, good! I found it, in case you missed it!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46287140#46287140
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Wow. He’s really fallen out of love, hasn’t he?
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He has finally realized – we are the managers. What he’s saying is spot-on!
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It’s kind of crazy the turn around, yestedary shepard smith complemented Hillary, saying she has really been quite impressive, with her negotitaons on 3 hostage releases, saying hoping she can do the same for Lahood son and the rest of the ngo’s in egypt.
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Matthews is “spot-on”, but I still fail to see Romney as the obvious alternative. He honestly is not that good a campaigner and has done more damage to himself than the Space Cadet could’ve ever hoped to do.
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Was that really Chris-tingle-up-my-leg-Matthews? ‘Member that whole eloquence versus experience debate, Chris? How’re you liking your silver-tongued guy now?
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Yes indeed, to both of your comments!
I still hope somehow through our efforts and those of others, we will see her on the ballot in November…If not, then I’ll just have to vote Republican..again..all because of that RBC decision. Creeps!
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I will write her in if I have to. It’s my conscience. I have to vote my conscience. I am getting old and tired of people arguing strategies with me on that issue. I did not write in my very first vote ever for those reasons. That buck stops here with me.
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I don’t know what I am going to do this november. I am terrified at the prospect of republican presidency, but Obama is getting a little cocky with I deserve a second term.
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I’ve noticed. It’s a conundrum. I find nothing redeeming in Romney, and Newt is obnoxious.
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If enough people write her in, Obama will lose anyway.
Personally, I have a feeling that there might be a third party candidate out there somewhere. Whether that person will be at all appealing to PUMA voters is anyone’s guess.
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There could still be a dark horse out there. I’d be happy with a petite blonde.
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I can’t see her going third party though. Frankly, I can’t see anyone satisfyingly liberal (by my definition) going independent. As I see it, a third party candidate will be come from somewhere in the center or to its right.
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I can’t see that either. Especially now with these SuperPACS I don’t see how a third party could rise. I don’t see HRC abandoning the Dems. I just don’t.
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See I think the SuperPACs make it easier to get and keep candidates in the race because all they need is one really devoted gazillionaire to pump money into their campaign and then becomes a battle of attrition. Everyone waits for someone to make the inevitable gaffe and then they all pile on. You don’t need to be a very good candidate or a very good politician now. You just need to be well connected. Our politics has become as superficial as our “reality” tv.
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Looking for the next Hillary. Whom will she be? That is a d@*- good question, yes?
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There’ll never be another Hillary but I like Kathy Hochul – former Erie County Clerk who won the special election in New York’s 26th CD last year (a largely Republican district) and is running for re-election now. Social liberal, fiscal conservative, smart, articulate, forceful. Needs more gov’t experience, but then again, Obama ran after a half-term as a Senator.
Elizabeth Warren, of course, but she needs a little more polishing if she’s going to go on the national stage.
I can’t think of others, can you?
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Still, I know what you mean. I wanted to write in Hillary in 2008, but was told it would just count for Obama, and that I could Just Not Do!!
Wonder if I wrote her in under third party, it would still count for Obama..? .Guess I will need to do a little research. Hate to be stuck in this position because of what the RBC did.
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I was for Gene McCarthy (whom I found boring but he was going to get us out of the war) until RFK declared and then I was Bobby all the way. When Jesse Jackson started his write-in campaign after Bobby was assassinated, I was all set to write him in, but everyone told me I would be giving a vote to Nixon. We ended up with Nixon anyway. And last time we ended up with Obama anyway. So I am going to write her in if she is not on the ballot. I have to.
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still I will also write her in.
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Hope springs eternal, though. He could still bow out. You never know, Things can turn on a dime!
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Frivilous alert:
Love her hair in the French chignon. Very becoming. For a President.
Sigh.. I won’t give up until reality forces me to!
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Ok.. I’m not giving up “until reality forces me to ” either! That being said, I too, will be writing her in, if she is not on the ballot.
She deserves my vote, and this time one way or another, she’s going to get it.
Thanks for helping me clear out the cobwebs in my brain on this issue!
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I’m still hoping against hope that she reconsiders and runs again in 2016. Right now she is so exhausted and needs some rest. But Hillary is a workaholic. She would get bored sitting on her hands. I’m keeping my fingers crossed (toes too for extra luck).
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