WIFP Hosts Leading Scholar/Activist on FGM: Tobe Levin, Ph.D.

On April 6, the Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP) hosted an event to raise awareness and encourage activism surrounding the issue of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Dr. Tobe Levin’s fascinating presentation covered historical efforts in diverse areas of the world to control women’s bodies, putting FGM in a global context.  Her forty-minute lecture, accompanied by her PowerPoint slides, kept her packed audience engaged. The issue of FGM is more known in other countries than in the U.S. and awareness has led to increased efforts to eradicate the harm inflicted on girls.

Levin discussed the forms of FGM, areas of the world where it is practiced and activists who are speaking out for its worldwide abolition. She highlighted the work of Khady, a Senegalese woman who was responsible for the passage of the UN Resolution against FGM. Levin translated Khady’s book into English and published her fascinating life story. (http://uncutvoices.com/blood-stains-a-child-of-africa-reclaims-her-human-rights.html)

Founder/CEO of UnCUT/VOICES Press, a press devoted to the publication of works on FGM, Levin is also an Associate at the W. E. B. DuBois Institute of the Hutchins Center at Harvard University, as well as a lecturer at the University of Frankfurt. She will soon be visiting professor at Oxford University.

Nora Bertognotti, visual artist, journalist and Workshop Art Educator, presented Tobe Levin with one hundred beautifully designed note cards (and matching envelopes). The cards feature a watercolor piece with a slogan on the front that reads, “125 million girls and women mutilated, 125 million spirits annihilated” and a poem on the back ~ designed and written specifically for the cause of FGM. We share the poem “Yet She is Still Wounded…”

She moves her lips
and only a painful
silence emanates.
Her young girl eyes weep.

She takes a glance
at her scars…
her heart hurts, her soul has gone.
Her silence is now a mournful sound.

She tries to soothe the wound
She strives to reclaim herself
She attempts to hold the power to heal.
Yet she is still wounded…

The artist, Bertognotti, who makes generous artistic donations to causes, was honored by CURE Magazine in 2008 as the recipient of the Extraordinary Healer Award. She is the originator of Soul and Heart Cards (soulandheartcards.com). Those of us gathered found the talent, generosity, and humility of Nora Bertognotti most inspiring. The cards were donated to raise awareness and generate funding for advocacy.

The event culminated in the presentation to her of the WIFP “Women and Media Award” in recognition her outstanding work in media. Levin has been working for decades on getting information out about FGM and encouraging activism.

Dr. Elana Anderson, WIFP Associate Director, presented Dr. Tobe Levin WIFP’s Award

We are proud that Tobe Levin is an Associate of WIFP and has provided us a way to take more steps toward the eradication of FGM.  The future possibilities of work on this topic, generated at the event, include performance, poetry and increased dialogue.

WIFP Directors Elana Anderson and Martha Allen

Photos by Alethea Russell and Delma Webb