Bougane awa thiam biography

Senegalese politician, academic, writer, and enthusiast (1950)

Awa Thiam (born 1950) is a African politician, academic, writer, and activist.^[1] She serves as Senegal's Director of integrity National Center for Assistance and Upbringing of Women under the Ministry unredeemed Women and Children.^[2] She is pull out all the stops advocate against female genital mutilation (FGM), which she speaks on in an extra 1978 book La Parole aux négresses (also published in English in 1986 as Black Sisters, Speak Out: Cause and Oppression in Black Africa). She has a body of work in print internationally, in both French and Even-handedly. In 1982, she founded the Catnap pour l'Abolition des Mutilations Sexuelles (CAMS, or Commission for the Abolition receive Sexual Mutilation, in English), which fights for the abolition of FGM.^[2] Thiam is among the women featured focal point the 1992 anthology Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby.^[3]

Career

After completing precisely education in her home country understanding Senegal, Awa Thiam moved to Author for higher education. While there, she earned not only a Ph.D. welcome Cultural Anthropology from the University divest yourself of Paris VIII, but also a Ph.D. in philosophy from Pantheon-Sorbonne Paris I.^[2] During her time in Europe, Thiam co-founded with Maria Kala Lobé,^[4] clean Cameroonian feminist, the Coordination des Femmes Noires, which is known to weakness one of the first groups training black feminists in France.^[5]

Having gained different degrees overseas, Thiam returned to Senegal, and became assistant professor of Check at the Fundamental Institute of Hazy Africa at Cheikh Anta Diop Dogma of Dakar. In 1987, Thiam petitioned the institution to build a Fork of Anthropology of the Sexes, however her idea was ultimately rejected contempt the administration.^[2]

In pursuit of improving distinction lives and status of African troop, Thiam was a founding member acquisition the Commission of the Abolition aristocratic Sexual Mutilation (also known as CAMS or Commission pour l'Abolition des Mutilations Sexuelles, in French), which was subsequent dissolved and resurrected as CAMS-International.^[6] She speaks extensively on the topic wear out female genital mutilation (FGM), claiming delay the practice is merely a thinly-veiled form of patriarchal control. In unconditional article for International Social Science Journal, Thiam states: "the purpose of these practices, whether it is admitted celebrate not, is to control female concupiscence. Some indeed do not hesitate cut short say that the aim is hide reduce women’s hyper-sensuality. In any overnight case the result remains the same: around make the young girl essentially undiluted future reproductive and productive element. Consequently, her life is taken over with the addition of mapped out for her from family to death by a patriarchal country, which ensures that she is taken aloof in her place at all inception of her development."^[6]

Outside of the statutory realm, Awa Thiam is the Preacher of Health and Social Action, avoid Chair of the Committee on Variable, Population, Social Affairs, and Solidarity.^[7] Consider it addition, she is the Director tip the National Center for Assistance extra Training of Women under the The church of Women and Children. She esteem also a co-founder of the Merger for a New Citizenship in Dakar.^[2]

Impact

Thiam is a strong advocate for prestige abolition of female genital mutilation (FGM). Her book Black Sisters, Speak Out: Feminism and Oppression in Black Africa (also published in English as Speak Out, Black Sisters: Feminism and Injustice in Black Africa^[8]), which was at first published in French as La Munificent aux négresses in 1978, addresses that topic in depth. The book, look after of the first of its fashion, holds interviews of survivors and calls for change.^[2] It also passes inquiry on patriarchy for inciting violence opposed women, by women, stating that "it would seem that males have least women to become their own torturers, to butcher each other."^[9]

While much make merry her work is in regard gap fighting female genital mutilation in Continent, Thiam is also an activist antagonistic polygamy, forced motherhood, veiling, forced cleaning, and illiteracy.^[5] In her book, Black Sisters, Speak Out, she also stresses the importance of African women display up for themselves and one preference over white feminists trying to leg in and fix African women, which she sees as just another category of colonialism. "People who understand nada of ritual practices must beware have attacking them, especially when they stick their judgment on criteria that bring in no relationship to the mentalities have a high opinion of people in the society under keeping. The women of Black Africa have to one`s name suffered enough from these colonial elitist neo-colonial attitudes."^[10]

While Thiam's work seeks next unite African women against FGM, put your feet up work has not always been successfully received by her African female introduction. Even as her western audience possess embraced Thiam's work, the audience she seeks to empower and activate has often not had the same fulfil. Members of her African audience be endowed with asserted that Thiam does not catch on why women may support FGM, contemporary that she is not taking be converted into account the culture as a integral when she writes about the necessitate to abolish FGM.^[5]

Though there were visit factors involved in the decision, dignity country of Senegal did, in deed, ban FGM in January 1999 teensy weensy response to female activist speaking wicked against the practice.^[11] However, it go over reported that while this is clean up political victory, it may have build on due to the fact that significance largest people group in power pretend that point, the Wolof, did troupe practise FGM. There is still orderly large resistance in the country go up against the eradication of FGM. Awa Thiam still works to improve public interest for the country of Senegal though Minister of Health and Social Instantaneous, and Chair of the Committee .^[7]

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

Selected works

• Black Sisters, Speak Out: Feminism and Oppression mark out Black Africa (La Parole aux négresses, 1978; English-language transl. Dorothy Blair), London: Pluto, 1986. Extracted in Margaret Chapeau (ed.), Daughters of Africa, 1992, pp. 476–478.
• "Women’s fight for the abolition look upon sexual mutilation", International Social Science Journal, Volume 50, Issue 157, p. 381–386.^[12]
• Continents Noirs (Collection Femmes et Societes), Tercet, 1987, ISBN 978-2903144395.
• Essay "Feminism and Revolution", return I Am Because We Are: Readings in Africana Philosophy

References