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Tag: female genital mutilation

  • Osinbajo advocates legislation against Female Genital Mutilation

    Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, says there is  need for state Houses of Assembly with high prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation(FGM) to legislate against the practice.

    Osinbajo expressed this view during an interaction with a team from Pearls Africa Foundation on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa.

    Pearls Africa Foundation is a Lagos-based social enterprise that promotes the cause and advancement of young girls and women using technology.

    The three girls in the team—Okpose Ayajenu, Mariam Matti and Moriat Alade, all built tech-based project/ websites through which they tried to solve already identified problems of their societies.

    Their respective projects are Makoko Fresh App, built by Ayajenu to connect fishermen and lovers of seafood, Hope Basket, by Matti to connect beggars and donors and Break the Blade Website, built by Alade to stop FGM.

    The vice-president said that what the girls were doing was innovative and should be encouraged.

    “Ordinarily it should be a crime to practice FGM, I think one of the things you should do is to write the state Houses of Assembly; and ask them to pass laws making it a crime punishable by a prison term to practice FGM.

    “That is one of the quickest means of bringing peoples’ attention to the issue, the advocacy is good but it will be better if the states pass laws, these things are within the jurisdiction of state governments.

    “This is very innovative; it is encouraging to see young girls, who are very sharp, very innovative, it requires commitment and a lot of hard work.

    “Sometimes you might find you are not getting as much attraction as you want within the period that you wanted, so you really need to be devoted over a long time, you need to be focused. People want to see that you are there.

    “For the Hope Basket, I do not know  how you are going to store the things; that is a challenge, you also need a standard for some of the things people might give, people can just come and dump some rags,’’ he said.

    Earlier, Mrs Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin, Founder, Pearls Africa Foundation, said that the essence of the visit was to intimate the vice president with the activities of the foundation.

    She said that the foundation promoted various initiatives for girls and women, citing `Girls Coding’ where girls were taught computer programming to enable them identify problems in their immediate environment and provide solutions to them.

    “For instance, the three girls are team leaders of different projects.

    “When they identify these problems, we merge them based on common interests.

    “For instance the Makoko Fresh App sold over N200, 000 in less than two months, connecting buyers and sellers of seafood,’’ she said.(NAN)

  • ‘Female genital mutilation victims develop sexual problems later’

    Women who are victims of the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) may develop sexual problems like pain during intercourse, reduced satisfaction and potential challenges with orgasm.

    A Consultant Psychiatrist, Dr Tomi Imarah, made the assertion in an interview with our reporter on Wednesday

    Imarah runs an online Mental Health Counselling Service, called “Dr Tomi’s Haven’’ via her facebook page, @drtomihaven.

    “Orgasm is a feeling of intense sexual pleasure that happens during sexual activity.

    “FGM affects the sexual life of victims; the clitoris is the female erogenous organ that is capable of erection under sexual stimulation.

    “It is not that victims of FGM are incapable of enjoying sex; it is just that it may take more efforts.

    “Women should not have to struggle because some people decided their genital organs should be excised for no good reason. Ignorance is not an excuse, “ she said.

    The consultant psychiatrist said that men could help their partners who were victims of FGM to enjoy sex better in a number of ways.

    According to her, first of all, men should be more loving and show more understanding in such a situation.

    “The deleterious impact of FGM go beyond physical injuries; there can be serious psychological effects.

    “Moreso, repeated challenges during sexual activities may make women withdraw emotionally.

    “It is important to have honest conversations about their feelings regarding their sexuality and specific measures the man can take to make things better.

    “Another thing is that couples should consider exploring other erogenous zones; these are body parts with heightened sensitivity, which elicit sexual responses when stimulated.

    “Some specific zones are lips, nipples, glans, penis for male and clitoris and rest of the vulva for the female.

    “All the erogenous zones are capable of eliciting varying degrees of pleasure; so, they can be explored and accentuated by loving partners,“ Imarah said.

    She called on stakeholders to join efforts to prevent women from becoming victims of FGM and also, law enforcement strategies should be a priority.

    Read Also: Female banker, man drowned in Anambra flood

    Quoting the World Health Organisation (WHO), she said that FGM were procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

    Imarah said these procedures had no health benefits whatsoever, but were actually harmful to women physically, psychologically and socially.

    “FGM is a human rights violation and should be treated as such.

    “The procedure is irreversible for the 200 million girls and women in the world; however, we should work toward preventing the next 200 million victims.

    “Many organisations and government agencies have been mounting awareness and advocacy efforts over the years; it is time we all joined the efforts.

    “News and social media platforms can be utilised in the awareness efforts.

    “Let us have conversations about FGM in family meetings, hangouts, Town Hall meetings, Whatsapp groups, religious events and so on.

    “Gradually, the next generation will find the idea of clitoridectomy strange and unpardonable.

    “Also, law enforcement strategies should be a priority; if we have a law in place and no one is prosecuted, it is rendered impotent.

    “Let us have a few well-publicised FGM prosecution cases and you will be pleasantly surprised to learn that FGM will decline pretty fast, “ she said.

    According to the 2013 Nigeria Demographics and Health Survey (NDHS) findings, 25 per cent of Nigerian women between the ages of 15 and 49 have been circumcised.

    “Osun has the highest prevalence of circumcised women with 77 per cent, followed by Ebonyi- 74 per cent, and Ekiti-72 per cent.

    “Female circumcision occurs mostly during infancy; that is, four in five women and about 82 per cent, who had been circumcised had their circumcision before their fifth birthday,’’ NDHS shows.

  • Circumcision or mutilation?

    AS female circumcision the same as female genital mutilation (FGM)? That conceptual mix-up is all too apparent in the latest campaign against FGM, courtesy of a National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2013, just released by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). According to Dr. Yakubu Aliu, UNFPA’s head in Cross River State, one out of every four Nigerian women, between the ages of 15 and 49, has undergone FGM.

    But the surprise in the stats, from the NDHS document, is both the spread and prevalence of the practice. Whereas conventional reportage in the media seemed to suggest FGM was mainly a northern crisis, this latest survey shows it is indeed more prevalent in the South — if not the crisis, then the practice.

    Here is the FGM geo-political prevalence spread, according to the NDHS document: South West, 56 per cent; South East, 40.8 per cent; South-South, 34.7 per cent; North Central, 9.6 per cent; North East, 1.3 per cent; and North West, 0.4 per cent. Yet, there is little, if any, record; of any corresponding FGM epidemics, in hospitals and other health centres, public or private, in these southern states, where FGM is allegedly prevalent!

    That is the first major alarm that what UNFPA categorised as FGM is no more than widespread female genital circumcision, which though many health sources have said is injurious to the girl-child is, as a cultural practice, still well entrenched, in the prevalent areas.

    Indeed, from the spread, it would be clear female circumcision is still a core culture in the Yoruba and Igbo heartlands. Yet, these areas are educated as any in the comparatively more educationally advanced Nigerian southern belt. In comparison, the practice fades into insignificance in the generally educationally challenged northern belt which nevertheless, at least from media and medical reports, has a higher FGM epidemic record, than the southern belt.

    The simple interpretation of all this is a classic clash between culture and modernity. But whatever the grievous implication of female circumcision for the girl-child, it cannot be curbed by demonising or criminalising an entrenched people’s culture.

    Still, please note: the clash between “culture and modernity” here would appear no more than a not-so-subtle advocacy, to impose the disapproving Western-European view of female circumcision. Even if that were the way to go, it cannot be pushed through, without first understanding and then adjusting the cultural base, from which the practice issues. That seeming willful denial would appear the major problem with the FGM campaign; and that is why UNFPA needs to tweak its campaign message, starting with the most basic concepts, to be sensitive to the recipient culture.

    To start with, female circumcision doesn’t equal female genital mutilation. It is only when circumcision goes awry that it ends in mutilation. If the act is rooted in culture, even among a segment that counts as one of the more modern in the country, the first logical thing would be to put in place, at any given time, a core of experts, who can safely conduct the genital surgery. That at least assures that every girl-child, going through that surgery, is in safe hands.

    While doing that, however, UNFPA, with the Nigerian health authorities, could mount a culture-sensitive campaign that points to the health hazards of female circumcision.

    In the coastal Yoruba states of Lagos and Ogun, male circumcision is routine, as in the rest of Yorubaland. But female circumcision is almost forgotten. Nevertheless, the story, in the more conservative Yoruba hinterland, of Osun, Ekiti and Oyo, specifically mentioned in the study, is markedly different. In there, female circumcision remains a sacred ritual, without which the girl-child is not culturally complete. That would also appear the position in the South East, from the prevalence rate in the NDHS 2013 document.

    Such an entrenched culture can only be unhorsed by free and voluntary renunciation, as has happened in much of the Yoruba coastal states. This is more so, when to believers, female circumcision ensures the girl-child would grow into a chaste woman — the first barrier against sexual promiscuity, which could prevent sexually transmitted infections. That is culture shaping science. Sexual discipline would also ensure matrimonial integrity, which should guarantee stable homes and a peaceful society.  That is culture projecting social harmony.

    Therefore, only comprehensive moral suasion, fired by systematic and sustained public health education and enlightenment, can deliver such a huge cultural change, with all its built-in but not-so-apparent benefits. But you cannot do that by first rubbishing the cultural belief, no matter how crude, of the target population. That would only earn defensiveness and avoidable stone-walling.

    Which is why everyone involved in this campaign must change tack. From what we have learnt, the girl-child can do without circumcision. And if prevention is better than cure, as indeed it is, without female circumcision, the chances of FGM is probably zero. Such simple, logical and culturally non-offensive messages could go a long way to changing set cultural attitudes for eons. But then, there can’t be a quick fix.

    Meanwhile, the government should offer institutional support to parents, who would rather not circumcise their girls but are being muscled to do so, via crude threats, ancestral curses and other rogue methods. The Guardian newspaper mentioned such cases in one of its FGM reports.

    A change of strategy is a better route than the present demonisation, stigmatisation, and scare-language, in a wholesale condemnation of female circumcision, when the real culprit is FGM.

     

  • Imo: Home of genital mutilation

    Imo: Home of genital mutilation

    Victims relive their ordeal as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) partners women’s rights group to stamp out Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Imo State.

    Despite recent discoveries on the dangers of Female Genital Mutilation and spirited efforts by concerned groups and stakeholders to abolish the obnoxious, age-long practice, it is still prevalent in Imo State, especially in its rural parts. Today, the state has the unenviable record of 68% prevalence, which is the highest in the country. Investigations have revealed that the case is rampant in Mbaitoli, Ikeduru, Oguta, Ngor Okpala and Ohaji/Egbema Council Areas of the state, where untrained practitioners, mostly women, wreak havoc with their blunt knives.

    Most of the victims still live with the scar of the mutilation, even though they are already aged. Over 30 girls between the ages of one to 25 have died in the course of this practice in the last two years, with a greater number suffering one form of deformity or the other as a result of infections resulting from the unsterilised knives used for the circumcision by the.

    Also a sizeable number of mothers, who went through the ritual, still tell their tale of horror. Ugonne Lazarus, a 50-year-old retiree, described her experience as harrowing, “I was circumcised at the age of nine and I lack words to describe what I went through. For many years I could not forgive my mother for allowing me go through that experience”.

    Speaking further, she said, “The practice is condemnable and anyone still engaging in it is still leaving in the Dark Age. We are appealing to government agencies to step up awareness campaign against Female Genital Mutilation”.

    Nzubechi Uneze, was not as lucky as she was left paralysed in one leg after she was circumcised at the age of nine. The 60-year-old said her ordeal started one evening when  she was lured to the home of a local female circumcision specialist.

    “My mother took me there that fateful evening and about six powerful women we met there pounced on me and pinned me to the ground and while I was struggling, a sharp pain engulfed my entire body and I became unconscious,” she said.

    “I woke up three hours later and I could not move my legs and I felt paralyzed from my waist down. That was how I gradually lost the use of one of my legs. Then I vowed that I will fight the barbaric tradition but as I grew up, I discovered that there is little I can do as an individual. The culture and tradition promote this practice and there is little or nothing we can do about it, except the government intervenes”.

    Hope is rising for the victims of the practice and others who are fighting the obnoxious practice and other  customs and traditions that undermine the rights of the women. A non-governmental organisation, the Women of Divine Destiny Initiative (WODDI) is partnering the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to curb the menace through awareness campaign and advocacy.

    Wife of the Imo State Governor, Nneoma Okorocha and founder of the NGO said that through advocacy and collaborations, the state House of Assembly has passed a bill criminalising the practice.

    “Female Genital Mutilation,” she said, “is a form of violence against women which is perpetuated by unfounded myth and baseless traditions. It is a practice that is very rampant in our region and unfortunately Imo State was found to have one of the highest prevalence rates of 68 percent.

    “In Imo State, intervention by UNFPA through the Ministry of Health, Women Affairs and Social Development has focused on five Local Government Areas of Mbaitoli, Ikeduru, Ohaji /Egbema, Ngor-Okpala and Oguta.

    “In spite of this intervention, it is noted that this practice is undertaken in our communities throughout the state and has been continuing unabated, parents especially mothers have been secretly indulging in the act, leaving the victims in perpetual agony and regrets.

    “This can no longer be allowed to go on.  It has therefore become imperative to end this harmful traditional practice”.

    She added further that the plan to eradicate FGM/C will be achieved through intensive grassroots awareness campaign in all the Local Government Areas in the state, with special emphasis on the areas with the highest prevalence rate.

    Also speaking recently during a one day workshop with some women from the twenty seven Council Areas of the state, wife the governor’s wife disclosed that a massive campaign to reach out to all women in the state to sensitise them on the dangers of Female Genital Mutilation has already commenced.

    She also informed that a law prohibiting FGM/C will soon be passed by the state House of Assembly.

    According to Mrs. Okorocha, offenders after the passage of the bill into law shall risk 14 years imprisonment or a fine of N250, 000 or both.

    One of the resource persons at the workshop, Ugochukwu Anozie, while emphasizing on the need to end the practice noted that FGM/C has been responsible for most Cesarean operations on pregnant women.

    He explained that the cutting of the Clitoris which is also known as clitoridectomy in a woman’s organ also erases sexual sensation and satisfaction in a woman.

    He said, “The clitoris has more blood vessels than any other part of the body, it has eight thousand, and when it is pressed or cut, messages that were supposed to be sent to the brain during pregnancy would have been cut and this sometimes explains why women go for Caesarean operation”.

    She also applauded the Imo State House of Assembly for passing the Female Genital Mutilation Law.

    She hinted that the law, which stipulated 14 years imprisonment and a fine of N250, 000, 00 or both, said that the Lawmakers have once again demonstrated the love they have for the women.

    According to the Governor’s wife who paid a commendation visit to the House of Assembly, the domestication of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) which was enacted in 2015 by the National Assembly, is a testament that the state lawmakers had taken seriously the campaign by WODDI to end female genital mutilation and other obsolete practices that endanger the lives of women.

    She said, “In Imo State, the great Legislative House has not only domesticated this Act but prescribed more stringent penalties against the perpetrators which include; the arrest of the perpetrator by any law enforcement officer without a warrant of arrest, 14 years imprisonment, fine of N250,000 or both. The Legislative act by this honourable House has once again demonstrated the respect and love you have for your women.

    “It is also on this appreciative note that WODDI commend this House for othger Legislative provisions that bother on the Child Rights Act, widowhood practices and other related matters that provide protection for our women”.

    She however appealed to the lawmakers to enact a law that will abolish street hawking by children of school age, noting that the State under its free education programme, has made education mandatory.

    Earlier in his speech, while admitting the governor’s wife into the hallowed chambers, the Speaker, Rt. Hon Acho Ihim, commended her for her consistent campaign against practices and extant customs that impinges on the rights of the women.

    He assured her of the continued support of the House in her quest to abolish practices that endanger the lives of women or intimidate them in any form, adding that her campaign, led to the quick passage of the Female Genital Mutilation Law on March 6, 2017.

  • FGM free generation: Students to discuss way forward

    FGM free generation: Students to discuss way forward

    Despite Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) being recognized as a human right violation, yet it remains a hideous practice happening in our society. Nigeria has the highest absolute number of cases of FGM in the world, accounting for about one-quarter of the estimated 115–130 million circumcised women worldwide.


    Furthermore, the estimated prevalence of FGM among women aged 15 to 19 years is 24.8% and this figure has not changed significantly in recent years with about 20 million women and girls who have undergone FGM.

    To this end, young people from public secondary schools across Lagos State will raise discourse on the issue of FGM, its prevalence in Nigeria, impacts/effects on the Girl Child, community and national development. They will be using artistic performances such as song, poetry and drama to advocate for the elimination of this practice in the country on November 11th, 2017 at the 24th Annual Teenage Festival of Life (TFL).

    This discourse becomes imperative considering that in spite of the severe short-term and long-term physical and psychological consequences of mutilation, FGM is often practised in the belief that it is beneficial for the girl-child. Some communities consider that it ensures and preserves virginity and marital faithfulness and prevents promiscuity/prostitution.

    Also, in every community in which FGM is practised, it is usually a demonstration of gender inequality that is deeply entrenched in social, economic and political structures. FGM is often motivated by beliefs about what is considered appropriate sexual behaviour.

    This event will have in attendance as the special guest government officials from Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, UNFPA, the Tutor General/Permanent secretaries of all the Education districts in Lagos state, teachers and students of secondary schools in Lagos

    TFL 2017 will also serve as a platform for young people to be adequately informed about issues of Female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria, with a view to enlisting them as critical stakeholders in efforts to attain FGM Free Generation.

  • ‘120 million women suffering effects of genital mutilation’

    ‘120 million women suffering effects of genital mutilation’

    The battle against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is far from being

    won as over 120 million women and girls are said to be suffering from
    the negative effects of the practice across the globe.

    Ekiti State has the second highest prevalence rate in Nigeria with
    71.2 per cent as the state government threatened to invoke the law
    passed by the House of Assembly to bring the perpetrators to book.

    These revelations came to light on Saturday at sensitization campaign
    tagged “End FGM Edutainment” which featured a Nollywood actress,
    Juliana Olayode a.ka. Toyo Baby of Jenifa’s Diary fame.

    The event which was fully funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) was held at the 3,000-capacity Multipurpose Hall of Ekiti. State University, (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti.

    The high point of the event was the celebrity’s declaration of the
    abandonment of the harmful and outlawed practice not only in Ekiti but in Nigeria. Many of the female students after watching the video of
    female genital mutilation wept profusely.

    Executive Director of New Generation Girls and Women Development
    Initiative (NIGAWD), Miss Abimbola Aladejare and Director, Centre for Gender and Development Studies, EKSU, Prof. Kemi Ogundana, reeled out  the statistics to a shocked audience majority of who were female students.

    Some of the negative effects of FGM, according to them, include HIV,
    infertility, hemorrhagic diseases, broken home due to lack of
    satisfaction with spouses and other associated problems due to the
    removal of their genitals.

    Prof. Ogundana described genital mutilation as a flagrant infringement of the rights of the female gender, urging the government at all levels to stop the menace in the overall interest of motherhood.

    She said taking the programme, which was attended by over 2,000
    participants to a university community was appropriate, describing
    the undergraduates as the future mothers and husbands, who needed
    sensitization ahead of time.

    “Cultural and traditional beliefs are responsible for this devilish
    practice and some people see it as family heritage but we must stop
    it. Some of those who even performed the genital cutting are
    unskilled. They did it with primitive and unsterilized equipment that
    do damage to human parts.

    “The World Health Organisation had a law prohibiting this practice and it has been domesticated in Nigeria, particularly in Ekiti State. I
    want to appeal that the laws must be implemented to protect the lives
    of our women”, he said.

    Miss Aladejare said as a victim of the practice that she could not
    forget the psychologically imbalance she always suffered each time
    she remembered the level of dehumanization being experienced by the
    victims.

    She said those who practised the act were hiding under the myth that
    retention of female clitoris can cause promiscuity and still birth,
    which she said had been proven wrong by medical experts.

    Miss Aladejare said the high prevalence rate in Ekiti requires
    collective efforts of all stakeholders to save the life of the girl
    child.

    Commissioner for Information, Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Lanre Ogunsuyi, who revealed that most of the cutters are women , stressed that the Ayo Fayose administration will continue to sensitize the  populace until the practice is completely obliterated in the state.

    Other dignitaries at the event are EKSU Vice Chancellor, Prof. Samuel
    Bandele, who was represented by Dean of Social Sciences, Prof. T.T.
    Olofintoye; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Ayotunde
    Omole and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs, Social
    Development and Gender Empowerment, Mrs. Peju Babafemi.

  • UNFPA, UNICEF call for proactive steps to end female genital mutilation

    UNFPA, UNICEF call for proactive steps to end female genital mutilation

    The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have called for proactive steps that would quickly eradicate female genital mutilation.
    The statement was made by UNFPA Executive Director, Dr BabatundeOsotimehin, and UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake on yesterday on 2017 International Day of Zero Tolerance for female genital mutilation(FGM).
    The world must make faster progress to end female genital mutilation by 2030, it was said.
    UNFPAOsotimehinlamented the excruciating pain and irreparablydamagesinflicted on girls’ bodies. “It causes extreme emotional trauma that can last a lifetime.It increases the risk of deadly complications during pregnancy, labour and childbirth, endangering both mother and child.
    “It robs girls of their autonomy and violates their human rights.It reflects the low status of girls and women and reinforces gender inequality, fueling intergenerational cycles of discrimination and harm.It is female genital mutilation and cutting. And despite all the progress we have made toward abolishing this violent practice, millions of girls — many of them under the age of 15 — will be forced to undergo it this year alone.
    “Sadly, they will join the almost 200 million girls and women around the world who are already living with the damage FGM/C causes – and whose communities are already affected by its impact.
    According to him, in 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals recognized the close connection between FGM/C, gender inequality, and development – and reignited global action to end FGM/C by 2030.
    “In 2016, more than 2,900 communities, representing more than 8.4 million people living in countries where UNFPA and UNICEF work jointly to end FGM/C, declared they had abandoned the practice. In 2017, we must demand faster action to build on this progress. That means calling on governments to enact and enforce laws and policies that protect the rights of girls and women and prevent FGM/C.
    He said: “It means creating greater access to support services for those at risk of undergoing FGM/C and those who have survived it. It also means driving greater demand for those services, providing families and communities with information about the harm FGM/C causes – and the benefits to be gained by ending it. And ultimately, it means families and communities taking action themselves and refusing to permit their girls to endure the violation of FGM/C.Let us make this the generation that abolishes FGM/C once and for all – and in doing so, help create a healthier, better world for all.”

  • Ambode’s wife, others move against female genital mutilation

    Ambode’s wife, others move against female genital mutilation

    Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode, has organised a high level meeting to discuss the problems of female genital mutilation. The meeting, which was held in Lagos and had in attendance medical personnel, health care givers, and traditional birth attendants, discussed how to protect young girls and women against the harmful practice.
    Female genital mutilation, according to Mrs. Ambode, who is the founder of Hope For Women Initiative (HOFOWEN), is an unhealthy traditional practice, a violation of the rights of girls and women and it also reflects deep rooted inequality between the sexes and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women.
    She lamented that some respected community and opinion leaders inadvertently engage in these harmful practices which include traditional birth attendants (TBAs), local barbers, medical doctors and health workers. “It is painful to note that most of the cases are performed outside orthodox medical facilities without any form of anesthesia,” she said.
    Speaking on the consequences of the injurious practice, Mrs. Ambode explained that a woman can die from excessive bleeding or even become childless for the rest of her life as a result of complications arising from genital circumcision procedure that has no medical or emotional benefit.
    Also speaking at the event, the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, Oba Kabiru Adewale Shotobi pointed out that the practice of FGM has gone down considerably in Ikorodu division with the exception of a few remote villages and hamlets where there are concentrations of people from other tribes.

    Shotobi therefore called for concerted efforts between the committees and the State House of Assembly to update existing laws on FGM or where necessary, promulgate new laws that will deal decisively with the matter in the interest of the innocent girl child.

  • Doctor warns against female genital mutilation

    Doctor warns against female genital mutilation

    A former Director of Public Health, Enugu Ministry of Health, Dr Uche Ene, has urged parents to desist from female genital mutilation as it could lead to infertility.

    Ene in Enugu on Thursday that “female genital mutilation is the removal of genital tissue which involves removing necessary glands leading the vaginal environment to become unfavourable to sperm.”

    He said that female children who undergo such practice were at risk of infertility.

    According to him, genital mutilation often results to painful intercourse, inability to have intercourse, infections and frigidity.

    The doctor who said that the lips that surround the vagina could be narrowed, added that the narrowing of the vagina often makes it difficult for the penis to penetrate into it for the release of sperm for conception.

    He further explained that female genital mutilation also included the partial or total removal of the clitoris and possibly the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris, removal of the labia minor and the labia major, among others.

    Ene said that appropriate institutional frameworks for advocacy and plans against the practice should be established in rural areas where this practice was most prevalent.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recognised female genital mutilation as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

  • Ebonyi to pass bill on female genital mutilation

    Ebonyi to pass bill on female genital mutilation

    A jail term of Five years awaits anybody who practices female genital mutilation in Ebonyi State, the state government has warned.

    The warning was handed out Tuesday during the flag off of the campaign against female genital mutilation in the state at the Women Development Centre (WDC), Abakaliki.

    In her speech at the occasion, Mrs Umahi described female genital mutilation as a harmful traditional practice against womanhood which must be put to an end.

    She said: “We can’t continue to live in dark ages at the detriment of our women in the name of female circumcision or genital mutilation.

    “Our women have suffered a lot in this traditional harmful practices against them and we must stop it, we must wage serious war against the practice.

    “A situation where women reproductive organs are butchered in the name cultural practices is no longer unacceptable,’’ she vowed.

    She noted that the state ranks second with 74% after Osun state as states in the country with prevalent rate of female genital mutilation, leading to her decision to begin the campaign against the practice through her pet project, Family Succour and Upliftment Programme.

    Mrs. Umahi said she will soon approach the state house of Assembly to amend the law against the practice which is yet to be passed.

    Earlier, the state Chief Judge Justice Alloy Nwankwo who was represented on the occasion by Justice Destina Oko of Onueke High Court said anyone caught practicing the act in the state will bag five years imprisonment with option of N2, 000 fines.

    She reiterated the readiness of the judiciary to partner with Mrs. Umahi to curb female circumcision in the state.

    In his remarks, Governor Umahi said he will retrieve a law before the state House of Assembly against female genital mutilation which has not been passed and emend it to provide severe sanctions against the mutilators.