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Sketchbook Studies:Obstetric Fistula

sketchbook painting
Inspired after reading about it in the
New York Times Sunday Magazine

 Two to three million suffer with untreated fistula.
Why!
"The root causes of fistula are grinding poverty and the low status of women and girls"

 "The Economist magazine recently estimated that 80% of the fistula cases in the Congo were the result of sexual violence."

 To learn more visit the Fistula Foundation
Campaign to End Fistula
The indignity of it leaves me speechless.

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Comments

cynthia said…
This is horrific - I remember reading about this a few years ago and I was literally ill to my stomach at the thought of it all. I'm really shocked that this kind of thing can be going on - and that one human being can do this to another.
5:18 AM
jafabrit said…
In this day and age there really is no excuse for a woman to have to suffer this after giving birth and yes, like you I continue to be shocked and the horrors inflicted on women and children. Yet here we are 2009, and women still live in the dark ages. Acid thrown in their faces for going to school, beaten, mutilated, ignored, abused and can't give birth without suffering from primitive treatment or lack thereof.
5:35 AM
p said…
aside from the awefulness of that affliction...i have to say i am always in awe by how creative you are and how full of life your blog is :)
enjoying catching up...i've been remiss in visiting and glad you popped by my blog! like your life drawings and everything, as always jafa!
5:37 AM
jafabrit said…
I enjoyed catching up with you too, been a while self taught. So we are both remiss LOL! Such is life.
5:45 AM
Lana Gramlich said…
So horrible. Ironically, just last night I was thinking about the horrors of female "circumcision" (listed on the Wiki page as a cause of this condition.) When will humanity's folly end?
6:50 AM
Ellen said…
I remember reading about this a few years ago as well. I was horrified to learn of many of the causes and how badly woman are shamed for having this condition. The information I had was from west Africa where (like many parts of the world) a woman's self worth is largely determined by having babies. They're expendable if they can't breed when they're young and many attempt to with this condition harming their bodies even more.

You art piece for this is really powerful.
11:22 AM
Lady P said…
i can't believe that in this day and age anyone would allow this to occur, much less continue
sometimes i feel as if we have taken just so many steps backward where the rights of women are concerned
9:25 PM
Philip said…
The role of men needs to change in society too. I always thought that this is where feminism went wrong. The role and status of women can't be changed without changing the role (and values) of men too. Perhaps this is wider than your point but I just wanted to throw this in. Otherwise women's issues will only ever be seen as, well, women's issues.
1:12 PM
jafabrit said…
ACtually I agree with your Philip, but women have to help themselves, empower themselves because men are not going to do it for them in patriarchal societies. From the magazine stories I read it seems when women have become empowered it has changed the dynamics in a positive way and in turn hopefully sons grow up with a different view of women.
1:25 PM
Anonymous said…
I remember being horrified by this when I saw it on Oprah (show about girls in the Congo being married off as children, suffering through horrible labors & then the indignity of fistula).

Women should always stick together. Maybe things would get better for us world-wide if we could all band together. We outnumber men, yet we are still second-class citizens. It's disgusting.

The next time I feel a little catty, I'm going to remember that we are all unified in this life of women. What happens to one woman, happens to us all.
5:01 PM
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