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| The Holistic Approach |
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BWHAFS
encompasses all areas in which the community requires help, support or intervention, making referrals to outside agencies if appropriate. We try not to see health needs in isolation from other problems and take a holistic approach with regards to service provision. From the starting point of preventing FGM and other forms of violence against women, promoting good health and bringing women together in solidarity, projects have also involved issues surrounding mental health; child care issues; women's employment; drug and alcohol abuse; HIV education; healthy eating; school exclusion and the needs of the elderly. Older people are accorded high status in Somali culture, and their experience and knowledge is highly respected, so the support and co-operation of older people in changing traditional practices is essential as they wield tremendous power and influence within their communities.
The work of BWHAFS is guided by various national and international Acts and Conventions that seek to protect the universal rights of women and children in particular; for example, The Children Act, The Mental Health Act, the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, and The Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act, which renders the practice illegal. Under this last Act, the practice of FGM is referred to as abuse but, as a grassroots organisation, BWHAFS made a stand from the beginning not to use the word 'abuse' in relation to the practice. Terming the practice abuse alienates the communities involved, who strongly reject and resent the description, feeling that it stigmatizes and isolates them, and shows a lack of understanding. There was little consultation with FGM practicing communities prior to the act being passed, and no education or awareness raising programmes were put in place. This practice is viewed as an 'act of love' in practicing communities, and something that is done to safeguard their children's future. A holistic approach, such as that of BWHAFS, is necessary so that the practice is not isolated and criminalized but treated with sensitivity and awareness of the grassroots perspective.
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