FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION: A VANQUISHED TRADITION ?
By Godwin Haruna and Oyefunso Orenuga

February 8, 2004 – (ThisDay News) Mrs. Abigail John (not her real name) is a Lagos-based housewife, who has just delivered her first child - a baby girl. She was so happy because she wanted a girl as first child as her close confidants revealed later. On the day of the christening, there was a lavish party for the first child of the family. After the winning and dinning, Mrs. John's aunt, an elderly woman in her early fifties called her aside and "advised":

"My daughter, you know this is your first child, do not play with her destiny. I was with your mum when you were born and before you were one month old, we had you circumcised to enable you live a responsible life. That is why you kept yourself before you got married and God has blessed you with this beautiful child. So, don't let her down, tell me when I will come and take you to the person who will do it for us".

Mrs. John was horrified by her aunt's sermon, but she knew she has to obey in order not to court trouble. The woman went to the extent of advising her not to mention the proposal to her husband. She eventually bowed to the woman's pressure and the new baby girl was circumcised before she was three weeks old in order to prevent so much pains according to them. The circumcision of the female child's clitoris is what is today referred to as the female genital mutilation.

According to Mr. Linus Odoh, female circumcision was practiced in order to prevent girls from engaging in sexual promiscuity when they grow up. He said the believe was that a circumcised girl at puberty would not have a burning sexual desire, therefore, she would be able to remain faithful until marriage and thereafter, to her husband alone.

An age-long tradition which should have been thrown to the dust bin years ago, the circumcision of the girl-child, is a tradition still prevalent in certain parts of the country until now. About ten states of the federation have passed legislation in their houses of assemblies banning the practice. There is also a bill before the National Assembly, which proposed to outlaw the practice in all parts of the country.

Last week, the Female Genital Mutilation Day was marked throughout the African continent with activities condemning the practice. Healthcare providers have often pointed out the health hazards associated with the practice. High risk infections like the HIV/AIDS pandemic and hepatitis B virus are diseases which could be contacted from the practice.

Odoh argued that preventing the girl from being promiscuous was neither here nor there. "There is no justification for the barbaric practice. Go to these brothels scattered all over the place and ask them if they were circumcised, most will answer in the affirmative, but they are doing what they are doing all the same. So forget about that practice, what is bad is bad. It is a bad culture like the killing of twins, which has since been abolished. It is high time this too, was abolished", he stated.

Odoh urged the government to follow-up the legislation with metting out punishment to offenders to serve as a deterrent. Until the government takes the bull by the horns, he added, the outcry will remain just that.

He also advised state governments that have not sponsored bills to prohibit the practice to start the process as soon as possible. He suggested that those facilitating the practice should be severely punished if the others are to be discouraged.

"This is not a thing that should be contemplated at all in this century when people are going to live on the moon. We should do better and put this disgraceful habit behind us", he stated.

The decision to dedicate February 6 to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) was taken at a well-attended conference by 26 national committees in the African continent meeting of the Inter-African Committee in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2003. Among the dignitaries who endorsed the decision to declare February 6 as FGM Day were the wives of four heads of states in Africa including Chief (Mrs.) Stella Obasanjo.

Others were Mali, Burkino Faso and Guinea Conakry. The aim of this piece is to bring this decision to the attention of the public and to enjoin everyone to contribute toward the eradication of FGM and other harmful practices that are targeted at girl-children and women in the various rural and urban communities in our country.

FGM, which is sometimes referred to as female circumcision or female cutting, is the removal of the partial or entire female external genitalia. The genitalia of a female comprise the mons pubis, clitoris, labia minora, labia majora, urethral and vaginal openings. In some instances, part of the clitoris is cut off and in others, the entire female genitalia is removed. The latter is often described as infibulation.

FGM is practiced in twenty-six African countries. At home, the report of the National Survey of Positive and Harmful Traditional Practices Affecting Women and Girls which was published by the United Nations Development System in Nigeria (UNDS) some six years ago found that the genitalia of 45 per cent of Nigerian girls and women were already mutilated.

Moreover, the prevalence was as high as 95 per cent in some states like Osun in the South West. The practice is therefore widely distributed all over the federation even the types vary from one state to the other.

Although there are no known records of the origin of FGM, it is however believed that itinerant traders introduced it to Nigeria from Asia, the middle and the near East prior to the spread of Islam and Christianity in the country.
Today, FGM is justified on cultural, religious, health, and aesthetic grounds. It is passed down from one generation to another despite the fact that various reports have identified the health consequences of the practice. For example, the victims of FGM risk the following from the knives that the circumcisers use: HIV/AIDS; trauma; depression; and haemorrhage. Researchers have also found that circumcised women are frigid, miserable, and may experience difficulty during childbirth and sexual intercourse.

In recognition of the dangerous side effects of FGM, an organisation known as Inter - African Committee (IAC) on traditional practices affecting the health of women and children was established in Dakar, Senegal at the end of a regional seminar that was sponsored by the WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and the Government of Senegal in 1984. The Nigeria Chapter took off a year later (viz., 1985). IAC has, since its inception, launched programmes aimed at sensitising the public to the harmful effects of FGM.

The organisation has recorded remarkable achievement in its efforts to-date and continues to work hand in hand with many other interested bodies within and outside the country.

By and large, IAC recognises that there is more to FGM in Nigeria. Other harmful practices that should be tackled include child marriage, domestic violence, widowhood rites, child labour, tribal marks, polygamy and (viz. multiple wives) targeted at Nigerian girl children and women. These practices not only undermine their rights but also their well being. No society can develop and realise its full potentials if a substantial proportion of its population is marginalized and brutalised as a result of needless harmful traditional practices like those that are listed above. In short, the goal of IAC is to ensure that these practices are totally abandoned or reduced to the barest minimum.

IAC (Nigeria) would like to remind everyone that Nigeria is a signatory to many international conventions and instruments that underscore human rights and it is the responsibility of the government and peoples of this country to ensure compliance with them. Compliance with the conventions means that all hands should be on deck to discourage all traditional practices that undermine the rights of citizens and to hold on to the beneficial ones.

February 6 (viz., a day that is dedicated to FGM) reminds every Nigerian of the need to double efforts to promote the well being of our womenfolk.

IAC is therefore urging all Nigerians to think about harmful practices like FGM that are targeted at our women and to resolve to do something about them always. It is necessary to promote the well-being of our girl-children and women because they have contribution to make to the development of our country. It is often suggested and rightly so, that the development of girl-children and women will translate into the development of a nation. Let us all therefore say a resounding no to FGM and other harmful practices that are targeted at our women.

Since Nigeria remains a signatory to the aforementioned conventions on harmful practices against women, the time has come to remove this vanquished culture from our tradition. Odoh urged all stakeholders to collaborate to make the barbaric practice a relic of history never to be practiced again.

Featured in Pambazuka E-News letter #143
From: http://www.thisdayonline.com/archive/2004/02/09/20040209fea02.html