Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DAKAR1169
2006-05-17 11:31:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dakar
how-toVZCZCXRO7769 RR RUEHPA DE RUEHDK #1169 1371131 ZNY CCCCC ZZH R 171131Z MAY 06 FM AMEMBASSY DAKAR TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5134 INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L DAKAR 001169
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR DRL/PHD, AF/RSA AND AF/W
PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2011
TAGS: PHUM SOCI SG
SUBJECT: INFANTICIDE IN SENEGAL
REF: 05 DAKAR 03019
Classified By: DCM Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).
SUMMARY
--------
C O N F I D E N T I A L DAKAR 001169
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR DRL/PHD, AF/RSA AND AF/W
PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2011
TAGS: PHUM SOCI SG
SUBJECT: INFANTICIDE IN SENEGAL
REF: 05 DAKAR 03019
Classified By: DCM Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).
SUMMARY
--------------
1. (U) Senegalese are appalled at increasing media reports
of infanticide. Though the practice seems to be limited,
actual statistics are shaky. Factors which might lead
parents to resort to the practice include poverty, emigration
of the father, incest, the Islamic practices of polygamy and
expeditious divorce by the husband, and the lack of a
systematic structure to assist pregnant women and place
children for adoption. END SUMMARY.
MEDIA REPORTS OF INFANTICIDE
--------------
2. (U) We have reported previously on police reports of
infanticide among wives whose husbands are long-time
emigrants (Reftel). Recently, the media have reported on
other cases. In January, one woman from an area just outside
Dakar strangled the baby she had given birth to the week
before, saying she did not want a child born outside of
marriage. The following month, a woman from a rural
community near the Guinean border gave birth to a boy, whom
she killed and buried in some bushes. The woman was married
to someone who had emigrated six years before.
3. (U) In each case, the police were alerted and the women
arrested. In fact, according to Nafissatou Diouf Mbodj of
the National Association of Women Lawyers, there has been at
least one such case in the courts of each region every year
for the past five years. However, Mbodj added that many
cases never get reported, making the statistics unreliable.
She said when cases do make it into the courts, judges often
soften the punishment when they determine that a mother was
suffering from extreme hardship. The flip side of this
problem is that some women end up in prison for years, and
the fathers of their children never get prosecuted.
ROOT CAUSES
--------------
4. (U) Mbodj felt the most common cause of infanticide is
poverty. Yet, many instances are caused by husbands
effectively abandoning their wives, either by emigrating or
by acquiring additional wives, as permitted under Islam. In
her perspective, this made the problem more serious in areas
such as Kaolack and Tambacounda, crossroads for people going
back and forth between Senegal and its neighboring countries,
as well as in the Islamic communities of Touba and Kolda.
She said incest is another cause and is very common.
Unfortunately, incest is never spoken of outside of families.
Again, there are no reliable statistics.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE
--------------
5. (C) Ndeye Lissa Diop Ndiaye, in charge of child
protection for the Ministry of Women, Families and Social
Development, told us a comprehensive study and awareness
campaign are needed. According to her, though, organizations
such as her own tend to get seized by one theme and ignore
other issues. Currently, so many groups have asked her
Ministry to partner in efforts to combat trafficking in
persons that, she contends, the Ministry has not been able to
focus on other critical areas.
6. (U) Marie Louise Mbodj, also of the National Association
of Women Lawyers, brought up the issue of lack of shelters
for pregnant women or of a system to permit women to
anonymously leave children at orphanages or hospitals.
Senegal is a signatory to the International Adoption
Convention but, according to Marie Louise, needs to tighten
adoption policies, more strictly regulating who can adopt and
how.
COMMENT
--------------
7. (U) Whatever the causes of this problem and - despite
weak statistics - no matter how unusual, the results are
tragic. Not only is there a loss of life, but the women
often give birth alone and use broken bottles to cut the
umbilical cord, causing infection and, frequently, sterility.
They also suffer from psychological problems. This is an
issue that will require behavioral change, as Ndiaye
indicated, and a more vigorous commitment from the GOS would
help. END COMMENT.
JACOBS
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR DRL/PHD, AF/RSA AND AF/W
PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2011
TAGS: PHUM SOCI SG
SUBJECT: INFANTICIDE IN SENEGAL
REF: 05 DAKAR 03019
Classified By: DCM Robert P. Jackson for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).
SUMMARY
--------------
1. (U) Senegalese are appalled at increasing media reports
of infanticide. Though the practice seems to be limited,
actual statistics are shaky. Factors which might lead
parents to resort to the practice include poverty, emigration
of the father, incest, the Islamic practices of polygamy and
expeditious divorce by the husband, and the lack of a
systematic structure to assist pregnant women and place
children for adoption. END SUMMARY.
MEDIA REPORTS OF INFANTICIDE
--------------
2. (U) We have reported previously on police reports of
infanticide among wives whose husbands are long-time
emigrants (Reftel). Recently, the media have reported on
other cases. In January, one woman from an area just outside
Dakar strangled the baby she had given birth to the week
before, saying she did not want a child born outside of
marriage. The following month, a woman from a rural
community near the Guinean border gave birth to a boy, whom
she killed and buried in some bushes. The woman was married
to someone who had emigrated six years before.
3. (U) In each case, the police were alerted and the women
arrested. In fact, according to Nafissatou Diouf Mbodj of
the National Association of Women Lawyers, there has been at
least one such case in the courts of each region every year
for the past five years. However, Mbodj added that many
cases never get reported, making the statistics unreliable.
She said when cases do make it into the courts, judges often
soften the punishment when they determine that a mother was
suffering from extreme hardship. The flip side of this
problem is that some women end up in prison for years, and
the fathers of their children never get prosecuted.
ROOT CAUSES
--------------
4. (U) Mbodj felt the most common cause of infanticide is
poverty. Yet, many instances are caused by husbands
effectively abandoning their wives, either by emigrating or
by acquiring additional wives, as permitted under Islam. In
her perspective, this made the problem more serious in areas
such as Kaolack and Tambacounda, crossroads for people going
back and forth between Senegal and its neighboring countries,
as well as in the Islamic communities of Touba and Kolda.
She said incest is another cause and is very common.
Unfortunately, incest is never spoken of outside of families.
Again, there are no reliable statistics.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE
--------------
5. (C) Ndeye Lissa Diop Ndiaye, in charge of child
protection for the Ministry of Women, Families and Social
Development, told us a comprehensive study and awareness
campaign are needed. According to her, though, organizations
such as her own tend to get seized by one theme and ignore
other issues. Currently, so many groups have asked her
Ministry to partner in efforts to combat trafficking in
persons that, she contends, the Ministry has not been able to
focus on other critical areas.
6. (U) Marie Louise Mbodj, also of the National Association
of Women Lawyers, brought up the issue of lack of shelters
for pregnant women or of a system to permit women to
anonymously leave children at orphanages or hospitals.
Senegal is a signatory to the International Adoption
Convention but, according to Marie Louise, needs to tighten
adoption policies, more strictly regulating who can adopt and
how.
COMMENT
--------------
7. (U) Whatever the causes of this problem and - despite
weak statistics - no matter how unusual, the results are
tragic. Not only is there a loss of life, but the women
often give birth alone and use broken bottles to cut the
umbilical cord, causing infection and, frequently, sterility.
They also suffer from psychological problems. This is an
issue that will require behavioral change, as Ndiaye
indicated, and a more vigorous commitment from the GOS would
help. END COMMENT.
JACOBS