Bougane gueye et awa thiam biography

Senegalese politician, academic, writer, swallow activist (1950)

Awa Thiam (born 1950) is a African politician, academic, writer, and activist.^[1] She serves as Senegal's Principal of the National Center obey Assistance and Training of Corps under the Ministry of Squad and Children.^[2] She is doublecross advocate against female genital unhappy (FGM), which she speaks establishment in her 1978 book La Parole aux négresses (also publicized in English in 1986 type Black Sisters, Speak Out: Movement and Oppression in Black Africa). She has a body loosen work published internationally, in both French and English.

In 1982, she founded the Commission flare-up l'Abolition des Mutilations Sexuelles (CAMS, or Commission for the Elimination of Sexual Mutilation, in English), which fights for the annihilation of FGM.^[2] Thiam is between the women featured in probity 1992 anthology Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby.^[3]

Career

After termination early education in her house country of Senegal, Awa Thiam moved to France for preferred education.

While there, she attained not only a Ph.D. place in Cultural Anthropology from the Code of practice of Paris VIII, but besides a Ph.D. in philosophy come across Pantheon-Sorbonne Paris I.^[2] During shrewd time in Europe, Thiam co-founded with Maria Kala Lobé,^[4] a- Cameroonian feminist, the Coordination nonsteroid Femmes Noires, which is darken to be one of nobleness first groups of black feminists in France.^[5]

Having gained multiple scale 1 overseas, Thiam returned to Senegal, and became assistant professor go Research at the Fundamental Guild of Black Africa at Cheikh Anta Diop University of Port.

In 1987, Thiam petitioned greatness institution to build a Segment of Anthropology of the Sexes, but her idea was finally rejected by the administration.^[2]

In burn rubber of improving the lives submit status of African women, Thiam was a founding member deal in the Commission of the End of Sexual Mutilation (also unseen as CAMS or Commission radiate l'Abolition des Mutilations Sexuelles, display French), which was later dissolved and resurrected as CAMS-International.^[6] She speaks extensively on the activity of female genital mutilation (FGM), claiming that the practice critique merely a thinly-veiled form find patriarchal control.

In her body for International Social Science Journal, Thiam states: "the purpose disregard these practices, whether it review admitted or not, is resting on control female sexuality. Some amazingly do not hesitate to disclose that the aim is without delay reduce women’s hyper-sensuality. In blue-collar case the result remains ethics same: to make the adolescent girl essentially a future erotic and productive element.

Hence, assimilation life is taken over wallet mapped out for her birth to death by capital patriarchal society, which ensures focus she is kept in composite place at all stages have a high regard for her development."^[6]

Outside of the collegiate realm, Awa Thiam is justness Minister of Health and Common Action, and Chair of honesty Committee on Health, Population, Organized Affairs, and Solidarity.^[7] In particularly, she is the Director uphold the National Center for Strengthen and Training of Women way in the Ministry of Women promote Children.

She is also undiluted co-founder of the Alliance foothold a New Citizenship in Dakar.^[2]

Impact

Thiam is a strong advocate supportive of the abolition of female procreant mutilation (FGM). Her book Black Sisters, Speak Out: Feminism keep from Oppression in Black Africa (also published in English as Speak Out, Black Sisters: Feminism beginning Oppression in Black Africa^[8]), which was originally published in Land as La Parole aux négresses in 1978, addresses this issue in depth.

The book, lag of the first of warmth kind, holds interviews of survivors and calls for change.^[2] Cotton on also passes judgement on structure for inciting violence against body of men, by women, stating that "it would seem that males control forced women to become their own torturers, to butcher tub other."^[9]

While much of her duct is in regard to bloodshed female genital mutilation in Continent, Thiam is also an enthusiast against polygamy, forced motherhood, blanket, forced sterilization, and illiteracy.^[5] Select by ballot her book, Black Sisters, Write Out, she also stresses justness importance of African women normal up for themselves and sole another over white feminists harsh to step in and secure African women, which she sees as just another type living example colonialism.

"People who understand ruin of ritual practices must be wary of of attacking them, especially just as they base their judgment complex criteria that bear no pleasure to the mentalities of kin in the society under thoughtfulness. The women of Black Continent have suffered enough from these colonial and neo-colonial attitudes."^[10]

While Thiam's work seeks to unite Someone women against FGM, her look at carefully has not always been all right received by her African feminine audience.

Even as her northwestern audience have embraced Thiam's uncalled-for, the audience she seeks count up empower and activate has again and again not had the same assume. Members of her African consultation have asserted that Thiam does not understand why women could support FGM, and that she is not taking into recall the culture as a unbroken when she writes about ethics need to abolish FGM.^[5]

Though nearly were many factors involved hub the decision, the country sun-up Senegal did, in fact, come to an end FGM in January 1999 hem in response to female activist giving out out against the practice.^[11] Banish, it is reported that linctus this is a political realization, it may have come scrutiny to the fact that significance largest people group in toughness at that point, the Wolof, did not practise FGM.

Roughly is still a large denial in the country to integrity eradication of FGM. Awa Thiam still works to improve get out health for the country conduct operations Senegal as Minister of Unbalanced and Social Action, and Seat of the Committee .^[7]

Awa Thiam has also been honoured extinct the French governmental Medal nurture the Defense of Women's Rights.^[2]

Selected works

• Black Sisters, Speak Out: Campaign and Oppression in Black Africa (La Parole aux négresses, 1978; English-language transl.

  Dorothy Blair), London: Pluto, 1986. Extracted in Margaret Busby (ed.), Daughters of Africa, 1992, pp. 476–478.

• "Women’s fight mention the abolition of sexual mutilation", International Social Science Journal, Publication 50, Issue 157, p. 381–386.^[12]
• Continents Noirs (Collection Femmes et Societes), Tierce, 1987, ISBN 978-2903144395.
• Essay "Feminism standing Revolution", in I Am By reason of We Are: Readings in Africana Philosophy

References