2006年VOA标准英语-Burkina Faso Activists Fight Against Female Cir

By Joe Bavier
Abidjan
24 May 2006

Activists¹ in Burkina Faso are marking the 16th anniversary of their campaign to end the practice of female genital mutilation.  Though progress has been made, many young girls still undergo the dangerous operation, which is banned by law.

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A rap song by the Burkinabe group Sofa tells the story of a young girl who has undergone the practice of female genital mutilation.
 
She suffers.  She cries, the song says.  It hurts when she makes love.
 
Activists and health officials gathered Monday in the town of Yako for Burkina Faso's national day against female genital mutilation (FGM).
 
The practice involves the cutting away of young girls external genitalia.  Risks include bleeding to death, infection, stunted² growth, and complications during childbirth.  
 
In 1996, Burkina Faso passed a law banning female genital mutilation.  An anonymous³ hot line was set up to report incidents and hundreds of practitioners⁴ have been successfully prosecuted⁵.
 
Burkina Faso's first lady, Chantal Compaore, says much progress against FGM has been made in her country.  

We have arrived at a stage where we can actually carry out surgery to repair some of the harmful effects of the FGM, she says.  This is something we must encourage.
 
UNICEF representative in Burkina Faso Joan French says campaigners must fight deeply rooted traditional beliefs.  But, she says she is pleased with the country's progressive stance against a practice considered to be a human-rights violation⁶ by the United Nations.

"It is a very deep cultural practice, which many people in Burkina still practice," she said.  "However for over 10 years now there has been a committee which fights against this practice, which has defined strategies so that populations will abandon this practice."
 
French says an unfortunate side effect of the legal ban on female genital mutilation in Burkina Faso has been that it is now being carried out underground.
 
"While it is true that we have made progress in Burkina Faso, and we can see that there is some success, the practice is very much alive," she added.  "And in fact, its beginning to be hidden, more hidden than before, since there is a law, which makes this illegal."

A study carried out by the National Committee Against Female Genital Mutilation with the help of the World Health Organization last year discovered that around 70 percent of female circumcisions are performed on girls under the age of seven, because it is harder to detect by authorities.
 
French says many girls are also taken to neighboring countries where female genital mutilation is still legal.

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。

3 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

4 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

5 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

6 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。