Berlin-Zehlendorf, Germany [CD EUDNews]. Every 11 seconds a girl is being mutilated through the so-called ritual of female genital cutting. 8,000 little girls share this fate every day. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are some 150 million mutilated women and girls worldwide. FGM does not only occur in the countries of Africa, but also where it is actually banned. Even here in Germany, there live about 50,000 victims of female genital mutilation!
The women are deeply traumatized. The horrors they went through have a lasting impact on the rest of their lives. Inflammations in the genital area, incontinence, fistula problems, the resulting societal isolation, an unbearable feeling of shame, and even death are most often the consequences. In order to restore at least part of their quality of life, Krankenhaus Waldfriede will be the first and only European hospital to treat the problems of mutilated women in a holistic manner. Specifically for this cause the
“Desert Flower Center” Waldfriede will be founded on September 11, 2013. The patroness of the “Desert Flower Center” Waldfriede project is former model and UN Special Ambassodor Waris Dirie, 48. In 2002, she established the “Desert Flower Foundation” in Vienna to raise awareness of FGM and protect the rights of African women. Born into a Nomadic family in Somalia, Dirie too became a victim of female genital mutilation when she was only five years old. She described her way of life and suffering in a total of five books that became international bestsellers. Her most well-known novel “Desert Flower” sold 11 million copies worldwide; the 2009 movie adaption was no less successful and left audiences deeply moved by her story.
Dr. Roland Scherer, head of department of the “Center of Colorectal and Pelvic Floor Surgery” at Krankenhaus Waldfriede, has been concerned with the subject of FGM for several years now. Together with Bernd Quoß, the hospital manager, Dr. Scherer contacted the “Desert Flower Foundation” in Vienna in order to help the affected women in 2012. In the same year, they met with Dirie at the “International Congress of Coloproctology”, which is hosted by Krankenhaus Waldfriede every two years. It was here that the idea of offering the victims of FGM medical treatment finally took shape. On September 11, 2013 – only 15 months after their initial meeting – Krankenhaus Waldfriede and Waris Dirie will launch the “Desert Flower Center” Waldfriede in Berlin-Zehlendorf.
The “Desert Flower Center” Waldfriede is a cooperating clinic of the Vienna-based “Desert Flower Foundation”. The holistic treatment concept is without precedent. Next to highly specialized pelvic floor surgeons, the “Desert Flower Center” Waldfriede features a number of top-rated psychologists, counselors, social workers and support groups to guarantee the on-going or complementary treatment of FGM victims. Thanks to the hospital’s long-standing focus on colorectal and pelvic floor surgery, women suffering from incontinence due to genital cutting may receive highly specialized surgery.
For women with German health insurance, the treatment costs will be fully carried by national and private health insurance companies in Germany. Even non-insured women – for instance those who fled their home country to escape from FGM – may build upon financial help to receive the necessary treatment. Together with the “Desert Flower Foundation” in Vienna, the hospital’s own foundation “Förderverein Waldfriede e.V.” will raise and provide funds. To guarantee the on-going financial coverage of the treatment costs, any donations are highly welcome. To learn more about how to support the “Desert Flower Center” Waldfriede project, please click here: www.waldfriede.de
On September 11, 2013, Krankenhaus Waldfriede will officially launch the cooperation with a ceremonial opening and guest lectures. Next to Waris Dirie, the federal minister of justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, Thomas Heilmann, senator for justice and consumer protection, Barbara Loth, state secretary of senate administration for occupation, integration and women, and Dr. Pierre Foldes, who developed a unique surgical technique to reconstruct the female genitals after FGM, are among the invited guests.
The “Desert Flower Center” Waldfriede will officially take up its work in September 2013. As of today, the hospital has already received many requests from FGM-affected women residing in Berlin as well as a long waiting list of the foundation in Vienna.
For further information and press inquiries please call +49 (0)30 81 810-213.Dr. Roland Scherer and hospital manager Bernd Quoß will be glad to answer your questions.
pictures: 1. The Waldfriede-Hospital Logo; 2. The Desert Flower Logo; 3. Bernd Quoss, Managing Director of the Hospital;
