Meeri Koutaniemi's Projects
Prison of Ilopango near of the country’s capital San Salvador is designed for 220 women but at the moment it is a home for over 2200 inmates. Internationally Ilopango is known for the famous “Las 17” ,17 women who are suffering over 30 years’ sentences because of abortion. Since 1998 El Salvador has banned all abortions and law prohibits it strictly even if pregnancy warns mothers life. Nevertheless, nowadays also every miscarriage is suspected to be an abortion or murder and at the moment at least 25 women are behind the bars because of miscarriage which court has seen as a second grade murder.
TAKEN Meeri Koutaniemi The World Health Organization estimates that there are more than 200 million women in the world who have undergone female circumcision. Female genital mutilation is a tradition practiced worldwide in 29 countries. Girls' circumcision has been illegal in Kenya since 2001, but among some tribes such as the Masai people, it is still a valued tradition. The causes of female genital mutilation include a mix of cultural, religious and social factors within families and communities. The tradition stems from the belief that woman's sexual organs are considered to be impure. FGM is often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behavior, linking procedures to premarital virginity and marital fidelity. Female genital cutting has been widely judged as a procedure against human rights and as a serious violation against women's sexual independence. It reflects deep- rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women.
Homosexuality, transvestism and living with AIDS are reasons for discrimination and alienation in a conservative Catholic Mexican society. In the middle of despair is a shelter, Oasis, for people with HIV and AIDS. This long-term documentary project is about four individuals who carry stigmas that do not fit into the norms of Mexican society. These men have found hope and support in Oasis which operates as a sociopolitical platform in favor of human and homosexual rights. After living for a short period of time in Oasis, they had to find their way back to start life on their own. These men are trying to live life to its fullest without the certainty of tomorrow. Reyna Patricia and Deborah transform into women when the sun sets to offer sex services as prostitutes. Gerardo Chan Chan was forced to live among pigs because his Mayan Indian parents did not accept his homosexuality. Carlargas symbolizes the last chapter of AIDS, being killed by the disease without family or relatives, but with the care of the last respectful silence of Oasis.
TAKEN Meeri Koutaniemi / Echo Photo Agency Child's hand had a flashlight. It was the only source of light in the dark mud hut. The child showed the torch at Nasirian who was lying naked and tied on the floor. The light beam hit in between of the girl's bare thighs. It all happened quickly. One of the ladies revealed an ordinary razor blade in her hands for the mutilation. Nasirian cried and the floor was streaming from blood. The more she leaked, the more she screamed. After few minutes her genitals were completely unrecognizable. - - - The World Health Organization estimates that there are more than 140 million mutilated women in the world. Female genital mutilation is a tradition practiced worldwide in 28 countries. Girls' circumcision has been illegal in Kenya since 2001, but among some tribes such as the Masai people, it is still a valued tradition. The causes of female genital mutilation include a mix of cultural, religious and social factors within families and communities. The tradition stems from the belief that woman's sexual organs are considered to be impure. FGM is often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behavior, linking procedures to premarital virginity and marital fidelity. Female genital cutting has been widely judged as a procedure against human rights and as a serious violation against women's sexual independence. It reflects deep- rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women.