Berhane Ras-Work (born c.1940) is an Ethiopian anti-
FGM
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
activist. She was the founding President of the
Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC).
Life
Born Berhane Asfaw, into a
Christian Ethiopian family, she attended a European-run primary school and at the age of fifteen went to boarding school in
Addis Ababa. She gained a BA in education at the Jesuit University. After marrying a US-trained engineer, Terrefe Ras-Work, she accompanied her husband to
Geneva in 1970.
She gained a MA in International Relations from the
Graduate Institute of Development Studies in Geneva.
A television program "started her thinking" about
female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
, and what could be done to raise consciousness and confront the issue.
In 1977 diplomats and activists living in Geneva founded the NGO Working Group on Traditional Practices Affecting the Heath of Women and Children. This was a precursor to the IAC, which was founded in 1984. Ras-Work was elected the first IAC President at the inaugural meeting in
Dakar.
In 1995 Berhane Ras-Work received the
United Nations Population Award.
In 2010 she was awarded the
.
Berhane Ras-Work, Convenor of the WG on Violence against Women and Girls receives highest Austrian award
NGOCSW, April 26, 2010. Accessed 14 December 2020.
Works
* (ed.) ''Traditional practices affecting the health of women and children in Africa: report on a seminar''. Dakar: Ministry of Public Health, 1978
* 'Female genital mutilations', ''Voices from Africa'', No. 4, pp.89–96
* 'Violence against women as a traditional practice', in Yvonne Preiswerk and Mary-Josée Burnier, eds., ''Tant qu’on a la santé: Les déterminants socio-économiques et culturels de la santé dansles relations sociales entre les femmes et les hommes'', Genevalie: Graduate institute publications, 1998
* ''the unbidden pain''. Janus publishing co, 2014.
References
External links
IRIN interview with anti-FGM activist Berhane Ras-Work
'' The New Humanitarian'', 9 February 2004.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ras Work, Berhane
1940 births
Year of birth uncertain
Living people
Ethiopian women's rights activists
Activists against female genital mutilation
Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni