12 February 2008

Salmatta Salaam-Coker, Freetown

Female Genital Mutilation to be Addressed

Traditional and cultural practices affect the health and lives of women around the world. Women and girls suffer the harmful and life-threatening effects of traditional and cultural practices that continue under the guise of cultural and social conformism and religious beliefs. One such practice is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

According to United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report on Gender Violence, it has been estimated that nearly one hundred and thirty million women have undergone the process and that approximately two million undergo the procedure every year. The practice was regarded as a rise of passage from childhood to womanhood and would normally be performed at the onset of puberty, but recently some ethnic groups initiate girls as young as five years old into the society, In Sierra Leone the initiators are known as Sowei.

This is prevalent in African societies and some parts of Asia and the Middle East. Some people view FGM as a form of Gender Violence, while others see it as a deeply embedded ritual that must be understood by virtue of the culture that is involved.

Before determining whether it is a form of violence or not, some school of thought think that it would be right for us to examine the gender issues involved, according to the report one must ask the following questions:

• If female circumcision is seen as violence, why then is male circumcision not regarded as a form of violence?
• Why is it that male circumcision is widely accepted than female circumcision?

These and other unanswered questions have been made from complex and sensitive issues. If young girls are forced into being circumcised, then we can refer to that as a violation of one’s human right, thus Human Rights groups must advocate ensuring that girls should not be initiated at a tender age and that they should be at an age preferable twelve or above, when they shall be able to make decisions as to whether they want to be circumcised or not.

In Sierra Leone, women still have to grapple with such issues as gender violence, and harmful cultural practices keep winding. Despite several campaigning efforts to contain the FGM issue, the practice is becoming prevalent and not seemed to be forgotten.

The authorities concerned have been trying to discontinue such cultural practices that retard the health of women and their development as they are regarded as key players towards a national development goal, but the problem looms on how those heads of such nefarious practices could be confronted.

Politicians always treaded with the utmost caution when addressing sensitive cultural matters like the FGM in fear of antagonizing the cultural conservatives in the communities knowing fully well that the key to their political survival is within their ambit. This was made clear by a Member of Parliament during a heated debate on the Child Rights Bill 2000, that his community is culturally strong with the tradition of women circumcision, therefore opposing the FGM exercise in his constituency would be his surest ticket out of parliament. However, the practice has been customized, to an extent, thus rendering government impotent in taking a firm decision to curtail the practice.

Nevertheless, it is an established fact that some girls have regretted having been initiated into the secret society. One Aminata Kamara, who spoke to this reporter, explained how she found it difficult to put to practice her experience gained in the whole venture of the secret society. Sowei, Rugiatu Sesay, however, expressed that the whole lot of sensitization does not seem to be making an impact for the fact that the people care less about the harmful effect of the practice, as they are still determined to keep the practice alive in order for it to be inherited by generations. She said, if the Sierra Leone government should attain the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, issues concerning women should be given a practical approach.

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