By Ebirim, Ozioma L.
Kenyan girls awaiting circumcision
(photo credit: theguardian.com)
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) also known as female genital
cutting is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as “all procedures
which involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia and/or
injury to the female genital organs, whether for cultural or any other
non-therapeutic reasons.”
Razor blade, an instrument of female genital mutilation
(photo source: theguardian.com)
FGM is a harmful practice which has led to the death of
several young girls and women not only in Nigeria, but the world over. It is an
unhealthy traditional practice inflicted on girls and women worldwide. It is
widely recognised as a violation of human rights, which is deeply rooted in
cultural beliefs and perceptions over decades and generations with no easy task
for change.
Female circumcision ceremony in Kenya
(photo source: theguardian.com)
There’s no gainsaying the fact that the continued practice of
FGM will not only keep its adherents rooted in a culture that offers no health
benefit but alienate them from civilisation and that which will help them to
live a better life. FGM is not something that would be glossed over because the
government is desirous of eliminating the practice in addition to propagating
healthy practice amongst women always.
Female Genital Mutilation in Ethiopia
(video credit: YouTube)
FEMALE GENITAL
MUTILATION IN NIGERIA:
A girl from Northern Nigeria - an uncertain future?
(photo source: bing.com)
Although FGM is practiced in more than twenty-eight African
countries, Nigeria has the highest absolute number of FGM worldwide accounting
for about one quarter of the estimated 115 – 130 million circumcised women in
the world. It has been noted in Nigeria that subjection of girls and women to
obscure traditional practices is legendary. In a world where people are
embracing modernity, archaic practices such as FGM still holds sway in the
nation.
FGM is mostly carried out on young
girls between infancy and age 15. No matter the angle from which it is viewed,
it is a violation of human rights of girls and women. The large population of
Nigeria has made it easy for the country to always record high rates of certain
incidences as the case may be. It has the highest prevalence in the South South
followed by the South East and South West, but practiced on smaller scale in
the North, paradoxically tending to in more extreme form.
FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION PRACTICE:
(photo credit: theguardian.com)
The practice is mostly carried out by
traditional circumcisers, who often play other central roles in communities,
such as attending childbirths. The use of unsterilized equipment in this
practice has led to the untimely death of many young girls who were compelled
by their parents to undergo such rituals. The World Health Organisation strictly
urges health professionals not to perform such procedures because there was an
impression that the practice was safer when medicalised. Unfortunately, the
practice has no health benefits for girls and women. The practice violates a
person’s rights to health, security and physical integrity and it is nearly
always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children.
HEALTH BENEFITS:
Young girls
(photo credit: viralwoman.com)
FGM has no health benefits. It only
brings pain and harm, and in most cases, death could occur. It involves
removing and damaging healthy and normal female genital tissue and interferes
with the natural function of girls’ and women’s bodies.
Immediate complications of FGM can
include:
·
Severe
pain
·
Excessive
bleeding (haemorrhage)
·
Fever
·
Infections
·
Tetanus
·
Urinary
problems
·
Wound
healing problems
·
Injury
to surrounding genital tissue
·
Shock
·
Death
WHO IS AT RISK?
An uncertain future?
(photo credit: theguardian.com)
The procedure is mostly carried out
on young girls sometime between infancy and adolescence, and occasionally on
adult women. It is established that more than three million girls are at risk
for FGM annually. Also, more than two hundred million girls and women living
today have been cut in thirty countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia
where FGM is concentrated.
FGM is a global concern because it is
most common in the Western, Eastern and North-Eastern regions of Africa, in
some countries in the Middle East and Asia, as well as among migrants from
these areas.
HOW TO ELIMINATE FGM:
What does the future hold?
(photo credit: viralwoman.com)
FGM is still in vogue in some regions
because of the belief that it stops girls from being promiscuous when they
marry. Although, this has not been proven, many people especially in the rural
areas believe that the practice should not be stopped. Although, many groups
and Non-Governmental Organisations have risen to condemn the practice, it is
taking a longer time for the decline to come. That notwithstanding, efforts
should be geared towards eliminating it so as to have a healthy growing women
population.
Some of the ways to eliminate FGM are:
·
Strengthening
the health sector response so that health professionals can provide medical
care and counselling to girls and women living with FGM
·
Massive
campaign to dissuade women and girls from emerging in this practice, letting
them know the health implications
·
Advocacy
to legislators to enact laws that will hasten the total eradication of such a
harmful practice. Even developing publication and advocacy tools for
international, region and local efforts to end FGM within a generation
·
Generating
knowledge about the causes and consequences of the practice, how to eliminate
it, and how to care for those who have experienced FGM
·
Encouraging
men to dissuade their women from partaking of such practices
CONCLUSION:
Although FGM is seen as practiced in
several African countries and several scattered African communities across the
world, it’s burden is largely seen in Nigeria, Egypt, Mali, Eritrea, Sudan, Central
African Republic. Nigeria is in the news most times for the wrong reasons. The
time has come for the nation to ensure that this evil and harmful cultural
practice is done away with. Human, material and financial resources should be deployed
in the fight against female genital mutilation not only in Nigeria but the
world as a whole since it has become a global problem. All hands must be on
deck to stamp it out so that girls and women worldwide would be protected from
harmful and unhealthy practice such as FGM. The time to start is now.
A young girl tugging at her mother - a bright future beckons
(photo credit: viralwoman.com)
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