Rev. of Dalia Ofer and Leonore J. Weitzman, eds. Women in the

Partnership project against violence against women, IDIL, 2002-2003
Daphne project
http://www.eu-idil.org/idil/
IDIL (somali female name that means intact), is a DaphneProgramme project 2001/2003 .
The project is aimed at defining and experimenting strategies to prevent FGM among immigrant communities/families.
Female genital mutilation, constitutes all procedure which involves partial or total removal of the external female
genitalia or other injuries to female genital organs both for cultural and any other non therapeutic reasons, and has
been classified in 4 types. The age at which the mutilation is carried out varies. FGM is carried out during infancy,
childhood, up to adult age. Several reasons are given to justify FGM: custom and tradition; religion (purification);
hygiene (cleanliness), aesthetic reasons; virginity protection to increase marriage opportunities. FGM has immediate
consequences: severe pain, shock, haemorrhage, tetanus or sepsis, urine retention, ulceration of genital and adjacent
tissues. Long term consequences:cysts and abscesse, keloid scar formation, urinary incontinence, dyspareunia and
sexual disfunction. Most of girls and women who have undergone genital mutilation live in 28 African countries,
although some live in Asia. They are also increasingly found in Europe, Australia, Canada and USA, primarily among
immigrants from Africa and Asia.
Dr. Tobe Levin Freifrau von Gleichen
Collegiate Professor, University of Maryland University College in Europe
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.forward-germany.de
www.mtholyoke.edu/~tflevin
Female Genital Mutilation
Refereed Articles, edited books
Forthcoming:
“Introduction.” Korn, Fadumo with Sabine Eichhorst. Born in the Big Rains. Between Africa and
Germany. Trans. Tobe Levin and Rosa von Gleichen. NY: The Feminist Press.
“FGM in the African diaspora: serving the wounded and promoting change.” In: FGM in
Pregnancy and Childbirth. Ed. Nicolette Clark. London: Elzevier, 2006.
Levin, Tobe and Patty Turrisi, eds. Violence: “Mercurial Gestalt.” Papers from the 2003 Cultures
of Violence conference at St. Catherine's College, Oxford, sponsored by the Interdisciplinary
Net. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
"The Creative Writing of FGM as an Act of Violence and Human Rights Abuse." In Violence:
“Mercurial Gestalt.” Papers from the 2003 Cultures of Violence conference at St. Catherine's
College, Oxford, sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Net. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Editor (with Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana). FGM and Creative Writing. Trenton, NJ: Africa World
Press.
Appeared:
"Female Genital Mutilation: Campaigns in Germany." Engendering Human Rights: Cultural and
Socio-economic Realities in Africa. Ed. Obioma Nnaemeka. NY: Palgrave Macmillan at St
Martin's Press, 2005. 285-301.
"Die Würde des Menschen ist Unantastbar." [Human Dignity is Inviolable] Schnitt in die Seele.
Weibliche Genitalverstümmelung -- eine fundamentale Menschenrechtsverletzung. [Wounded
Soul. FGM - a fundamental human rights abuse] Ed. Terre des Femmes. Frankfurt am Main:
Mabuse-Verlag, 2003. 88-94.
"Female Genital Mutilation and Human Rights." Comparative American Studies. An International
Journal. Special issue on human rights. Guest eds. Werner Sollors and Winfried Fluck. Vol. 1
(3) 2003. 285-316.
"Ill at Ease with Mariam, Gloria Naylor's Infibulated Jew." Holding Their Own: perspectives on the
multi-ethnic literatures of the United States. Eds. Dorothea Fischer-Hornung and Heike
Raphael-Hernandez. Tübingen: Stauffenberg, 2000. 51-66.
"Alice Walker: Matron of FORWARD." Black Imagination and the Middle Passage. Eds. Maria
Diedrich, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Carl Pedersen. NY: Oxford UP, 1999. 240-254.
"Dos milliones cada año durante cuántos años más? Hacia la abolición de la mutilación genital
femenina." La Construcción cultural de lo Femenino. Eds. Amparo Gómez Rodríguez and
Justine Tally. Tenerife: Universidad de la Laguna. Centro de Estudios de la Mujer, 1999. 75104.
"Abolition Efforts in the African Diaspora: Two Conferences on Female Genital Mutilation in
Europe." Women's Studies Quarterly 1999, 1 & 2. "Teaching About Violence Against
Women." NY: The Feminist Press. 109-116.
"Die Klavierspielerin: On Mutilation and Somatophobia." 'Other' Austrians. Post-1945 Austrian
Women’s Writing. Ed. Allyson Fiddler. Proceedings of the Conference, Post 1945 Austrian
Women’s Writing, University of Nottingham, From 18-20 April 1996. Berne: Peter Lang, 1998.
225-234.
"Women as Scapegoats of Culture and Cult: An Activist’s View of Female Circumcision in
Thiong’o’s The River Between." Ngambika. Studies of Women in African Literature. Ed.
Carole Boyce Davies and Anne Adams Graves. Trenton, NJ: Africa World P., 1985. 205-221.
"'Unspeakable Atrocities': The Psycho-sexual Etiology of Female Genital Mutilation." The
Journal of Mind and Behavior. 1:2, Autumn 1980. 197-210. Revised version of "Warum
geschehen all diese Greueltaten an Frauen? Versuchen wir eine Erklärung, suchen wir nach
den Begründungen-- und den Gründen." [Why do these things happen to women? Let's look
for the reasons -- and rationalizations] Trans. Gabriele Geiger. Materialien zur Unterstützung
von Aktionsgruppen gegen Klitorisbeschneidung. [Documentation for groups against
clitoridectomy] Eds. Ingrid Braun, Tobe Levin, Angelika Schwarzbauer. Munich: Verlag
Frauenoffensive, 1979. 55-62.
Editor (with Ingrid Braun and Angelika Schwarzbauer). Materialien zur Unterstützung von
Aktionsgruppen gegen Klitorisbeschneidung. [Documentation for groups against
clitoridectomy] Munich: Verlag Frauenoffensive, 1979.
Journalism, Reports and Reviews
Forthcoming:
"On FGM in France." Rev. of Isabelle Gillette-Faye and Robert Toubon, eds. Comment lutter contre
les mutilations génitales féminines ici et là-bas? Paris: Equilibres & Populations, 2002 and
Françoise Couchard. L'Excision. [Que sais-je?] Paris: Editions universitaire de France, 2003 in
Feminist Europa. Review of Books. www.stiftung-frauenforschung.de
Appeared:
„Female Genital Mutilation and Advice.“ Final Report of the UNICEF Conference Female Genital
Mutilation in Europe, March 7, 2005 in Zürich. Zürich: UNICEF Schweiz and Bendesamt für
Gesundheit, 2005. 32.
"Darstellung der gesellschaftlichen Ursachen und Analyse der kontinuierlichen Praxis
weiblicher Genitalverstümmelung, Motive und Begündungen." [Social Background to and
Analysis of the on-going practice of female genital mutilation, reasons and rationalisations]
Expertentreffen zur Überwindung der weiblichen Genitalverstümmelung. [Expert Meeting on
Abolition of FGM. Documentation] Berlin: Auswärtiges Amt [Ministry of Foreign Affairs], 2003.
29-36.
2
"Between the Feasible and the Transformative." Rev. of Shirin M. Rai. Gender and the Political
Economy of Development. From Nationalism to Globalization. Cambridge: Polity, 2002. In The
European Journal of Women's Studies. 10 (3) 2003. 351-353.
"Internet-Based Resources on Female Genital Mutilation." Feminist Collections. A Quarterly of
Women's Studies Resources. Vol. 23, No. 3, Spring 2002. The University of Wisconsin
System: Women's Studies Librarian. 19-24.
"FGM Research in Law and Medicine in Germany." Rev. of Rosenke, Marion. Die rechtlichen
Probleme im Zusammenhang mit der weiblichen Genitalverstümmelung. [Legal Problems in
relation to FGM]. Frankfurt/Main: Peter Lang, 2000 and Okroi, Eiman. Weibliche
Genitalverstümmelung im Sudan. "Female Genital Mutilation." [FGM in the Sudan] Hamburg:
Akademos 2001. Feminist Europa. Review of Books. The German Foundation for Gender
Studies. Heidelberg. Vol. 2. No. 1, 2002.
"Female Genital Mutilation: Recent Contributions in German." Rev. of Hermann, Conny, ed. Das
Recht auf Weiblichkeit: Hoffnung im Kampf gegen die Genitalverstümmelung. Bonn: Dietz,
2000; Schnüll, Petra/ Terre des Femmes, eds. Weibliche Genitalverstümmelung: Eine
Fundamentale Menschenrechtsverletzung. Göttingen: Terre des Femmes, 1999; DiabyPentzlin, F. and E. Göttke, eds. Einschnitte. Materialband zu Female Genital Cuttings (FGC).
Eschborn: GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit), 1999; Kirchenamt der
Evangelischen Kirche Deutschland (EKD), ed. Genitalverstümmelung von Mädchen und
Frauen. Eine kirchliche Stellungnahme. Hannover: Kirchenamt der EKD, 2000. Feminist
Europa. Review of Books. The German Foundation for Gender Studies. Heidelberg. Vol. 1.
Nos 1 & 2. 2001. 8-24.
Editor, with Joy Keshi Ashibuogwu. Weibliche Genitalverstümmelung. Künstlerinnen und Künstler aus
Nigeria klagen an. Exhibition Catalogue. [FGM. Nigerian Artists Protest a Rite] Frankfurt:
consellgruppe, 2000. See http://www.forward.dircon.co.uk/germany
Click on Exhibition.
"Internationale Initiativen gegen genitale Verstümmelung." [International efforts to end FGM] (with
Ulrike Brown). Weibliche Genitalverstümmelung. Eine fundamentale Menschenrechtsverletzung. Eds. Petra Schnüll & terre des femmes. Terre des femmes: Tübingen, 1999.
"Klitorisverstümmelung: Mitten in Europa." (with Temesgen Melzer). [Clitoridectomy in Europe]
Emma. Nov/Dec. 1998. 56-57.
"For A while, 'Even a Gaasha [Foreign Non-believer] is a Gaban Gudban [Closed, Virgin]....''"
Rev. of Charlotte Beck-Karrer. Löwinnen sind sie. Gespräche mit somalischen Frauen und
Männern über Frauenbeschneidung. Bern: eFeF, 1996. European Journal of Women’s
Studies 5/3 & 4, November 1998. 533-536.
"Maintaining the Body’s Integrity." Rev. of Efua Dorkenoo. Cutting the Rose. Female Genital
Mutilation. The Practice and Its Prevention. London: Minority Rights Group, 1994. European
Journal of Women’s Studies. 3/3. August 1996. 315-318.
"Netzwerk 'Genitalverstümmelung': zur Gründung einer deutschen Sektion von FORWARD."
[Networking on FGM: Toward the founding of a German section of FORWARD] Terre des
femmes RUNDBRIEF 2/1995. 20.
"Von Schwester zu Schwester." [Sister to Sister] Emma. September 1985. 27.
"Gegen Verschleierung des Gehirns: Interview mit Nawal el Sa'adawi." [Against veiling of the
mind: an Interview with Nawal el Sa'adawi] Emma. September 1985. 28-29.
Rev. of Warrior Marks a film by Pratibha Parmar, executive producer Alice Walker, 1993; and Warrior
Marks. Female Genital Mutilation and the Sexual Blinding of Women by Alice Walker and
Pratibha Parmar. NWSA Journal 6/3. Fall 1994. 511-514.
3
"6.000 am Tag, 2 Millionen im Jahr....." [6000 each day, 2 million each year ...] and "FORWARD:
Hoffnung für die nächste Generation." [FORWARD: Hope for the next generation] Terre
des Femmes RUNDBRIEF. 3/4.1994. Tübingen: terre des femmes, 45-47.
"Frau, warum weinst du? Weibliche Beschneidung im Sudan und ihre Folgen. Dr. Tobe Levin
(TDF) im Gespräch mit Asma El Dareer, Sudan." [Woman, why do you weep? Female
circumcision in the Sudan and its consequences. Interview with Asma el Dareer] Terre des
femmes RUNDBRIEF 1. 1992. Tübingen: terre des femmes, 18-19.
"Frauen im Kampf" [Women in struggle: Documentation of early 1980 initiatives against genital
mutilation] Terre des femmes RUNDBRIEF II/91. 12 – 15 [including reprint of "Solidarische
Rassistinnen." Emma. February 1983]
"Cutting out Circumcision." Rev. of Olayinka Koso-Thomas. The Circumcision of Women: A
Strategy for Eradication. London: Zed, 1988. The Women’s Review of Books. 5/8, May 1988.
5-6.
"Solidarische Rassistinnen: Bericht über eine Konferenz in Senegal." [Racist solidarity: Report
on a conference in Senegal] Emma. February 1983. 63.
"Klitorisbeschneidung." [Clitoridectomy] Courage. 10 October 1982. 16.
"Genital Mutilation – The Unspeakable Atrocity." Manushi 8. 1981. 39-42.
"Klitorisbeschneidung." [Clitoridectomy] Emma. December 1980. 46.
Part 2. Jewish Women, Gender and the Holocaust
Refereed Articles
"Ilona Karmel," Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature. Ed. Emmanuel S. Nelson. Westport,
CT: Greenwood, 2005. 1213-1215.
"Jo Sinclair." Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature. Ed. Emmanuel S. Nelson. Westport,
CT: Greenwood, 2005. 2040-2041.
"Alicia Appleman-Jurman." Holocaust Literature. An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work. Vol. 1.
Ed. S. Lillian Kremer. NY: Routledge, 2003. 64-66.
"Cecilie Klein." Holocaust Literature. An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work. Vol. 1. Ed. S. Lillian
Kremer. NY: Routledge, 2003. 656-658.
"Blanca Rosenberg." Holocaust Literature. An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work. Vol. 2. Ed. S.
Lillian Kremer. NY: Routledge, 2003. 1027-1029.
"Aranka Siegal." Holocaust Literature. An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work. Vol. 2. Ed. S.
Lillian Kremer. NY: Routledge, 2003. 1159-1162.
"Feminism: Jewish." Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women. Global Women's Issues and
Knowledge. Vol. 2. Eds. Cheris Kramerae and Dale Spender. NY: Routledge, 2000. 775-780.
"Jewish Women in Germany" (with Susanna Keval). Jewish Women 2000: Conference Papers from
the Hadassah Research Institute on Jewish Women at Brandeis University International
Scholarly Exchanges 1997-1998. Eds. HRIJW and Helen Epstein. Waltham, MA: Hadassah
Research Institute on Jewish Women Working Paper 8, November 1999. 203-232.
"Pouvons-nous appliquer les principes de la critique littéraire féministe aux écrits de femmes
sur l’Holocauste?" [Can we apply principles of feminist literary criticism to women's
Holocaust writing?] Féminismes et nazisme. En Hommage à Rita Thalmann. Ed. Liliane
4
Kandel. Paris: Publications de l'Université Paris 7, Denis Diderot (CEDREF), 1997. 250-259;
rpt. In Féminismes et nazisme. Ed. Liliane Kandel. Paris: Odile Jacob, 2004. 250-259.
"Die Jüdische Frauenbewegung in Deutschland." [The Jewish Women's Movement in
Germany] ‘Fremdes’ oder ‘Eigenes’? Rassismus. Antisemitismus. Kolonialismus.
Rechtsextremismus aus Frauensicht. [Foreign or domestic? Racism, anti-Semitism,
Colonialism and Rightwing Extremism from the Perspective of Women] Ed. Renate Nestvogel.
Frankfurt am Main: Verlag für Interkulturelle Kommunikation, 1994. 86-100.
Journalism, Reports and Reviews
"Holocaust Scholarship and Voices of Women." Rev. of Elizabeth R. Baer and Myrna Goldenberg.
Experience and Expression. Women, the Nazis, and the Holocaust. Detroit: Wayne State
U.P., 2003. European Journal of Women's Studies. 2005 in The European Journal of
Women’s Studies. 12/4, November 2005. 497-499.
"An Israeli 'Joan of Arc'? Gender in Holocaust Research." Rev. of Baumel, Judith Tydor. Double
Jeopardy. Gender and the Holocaust. London: Valentine Mitchell, 1998 and Fuchs, Esther, ed.
Women and the Holocaust. Narrative and Representation. Studies in the Shoah Volume XXII.
Lanham, MD: University P. of America, 1999. European Journal of Women's Studies. 9/1,
February 2002. 82-97.
"Gender and the Holocaust." Rev. of Dalia Ofer and Leonore J. Weitzman, eds. Women in the
Holocaust. New Haven: Yale U.P., 1998; S. Lillian Kremer. Women's Holocaust Writing.
Memory and Imagination. Lincoln, NE: U. of Nebraska P., 1999; and Da Costa, Denise. Anne
Frank and Etty Hillesum. Inscribing Spirituality and Sexuality. Trans. Moscha Hoyinck and
Robert E. Chesal. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers U.P., 1998. European Journal of Women's
Studies. 7/2, May 2000. 345-351.
"Gender and the Holocaust." Rev. of Marion Kaplan. Between Dignity and Despair. Jewish Life in
Nazi Germany. NY: Oxford, 1998. European Journal of Women's Studies 6/2, 1999. 246 248.
Rev. of Marian A. Kaplan. Jüdisches Bürgertum. Frau, Familie und Identität im Kaiserreich. Trans.
Ingrid Strobl. Hamburg: Doelling und Galitz, 1997. Feministische Studien. 16/1 May 1998.
128-130.
"Assimilation, Jews and Gender." Rev. of Paula E. Hyman. Gender and Assimilation in Modern
Jewish History: The Roles and Representations of Women. Seattle & London: U. of
Washington P., 1995 and Jessica Jacoby, Claudia Schoppmann, and Wendy Zena-Henry,
eds. Nach der Shoah geboren. Jüdische Frauen in Deutschland. Berlin: Elefanten P., 1994.
European Journal of Women’s Studies. 4/3 August 1997. 405-411.
Rev. of Nach der Shoah geboren. Jüdische Frauen in Deutschland. [Born after the Shoah: Jewish
Women in Germany] Eds. Jessica Jacoby, Claudia Schoppmann, Wendy Zena-Henry. Berlin:
Elefanten P., 1994. Bridges. A Journal for Jewish Feminists and Our Friends. 5/2. 1996. 111118.
"Women, War and Peace: The Vision and the Strategies." Conference Report. Bridges. A Journal
for Jewish Feminists and our Friends. 5/1. 1996/5756. 97-99.
"Feminism and Nazism." Conference Report. Bridges. A Journal for Jewish Feminists and our
Friends. 3/2. 1993/5753.120.
Dr. Tobe Levin Freifrau von Gleichen
Collegiate Professor, University of Maryland University College in Europe
Editor and Activist
Martin Luther Str. 35
60389 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
5
Telephone + 49 69 45 96 60
Fax + 49 69 46 40 69
Cell + 0177 749 40 62
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.forward-germany.de
www.mtholyoke.edu/~tflevin
6