Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Sierra
Leone
Female Genital Mutilation is one of the
cultural practices that involve the removal of female genital part mostly
penetrated in some parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Bjalkander et el
(2012) claim that the practice originated from Africa, where the practice could
be found in 28 countries (p.119). The authors also explain that over 90 million
girls have suffered from this practice (p.119). In fact the practice is widely
regarded as a violation of human rights of girls and women. As a result there
are many advocacy organization and nonprofits that are aggressively engage in
campaigns to end the practice.
Sierra Leone is one of the countries where the practice is very high in the Sub Saharan Africa. However, a downward trend
has been noted between 2006 and 2010 from 91% to 88% respectively (p.119).
Education play a vital role in its practice in Sierra Leone, a higher rate is
noted among the non- education than the educated with prevalence rates of 95%
and 74.2% respectively (p.120). It has also a generational dimension in the
different age brackets. For example, between the age bracket of 45-49 and 15-19
it stood at 96.4% and 70.1% respectively (p.120). The widely held belief among older women is
abandoning the practice simply means abandoning their culture and tradition.
These elderly women also believe that FGM could prevent women from being
prostitutes, because it decreases women desire for sex. The lower pattern among
younger women is explained by the campaigns that are being carried out by the
advocacy groups and the impact of education on them. The authors also discuss
the decision making process to carry out FGM. The authors reveal that the
decision to carry out FGM are mainly influenced by the community, family and
individual, but family decision is more profound among them through mother and
grandmother.
I think it is through concerted effort
that could put an end to the practice in Sierra Leone and other countries where
the practice is very high. I would suggest an intensification of campaigns on
the negative consequences of FGM especially among the uneducated. Public policy
could also assist in stopping the practice through incentivizing for compliance
and also punishing for non-compliance to legislation or rules banning the
practice. On a last note, the importance of culture influence in the practice
should also not be underestimated, therefore there should be continuous dialogue
between actors and communities on the health implications of the practice and
promote or inculcate habitual change in the practice.
In conclusion, FGM is complex issue to
address, therefore stakeholders needs to revisit their approaches to put an end
to the practice. Communities also need to be a ware that the campaign to end
the practice is to their best interest and should not consider themselves as
winners or losers.
Reference
Bjalkander.O.,
Leigh, B. Harman,G., Bergstrom, S., & Almroth. L.. (2012). Female genital
mutilation in Sierra Leone: Who are the decision makers? Africa Journal Of Reproductive Health, 16 (4), 119-113.
Fatou: I like your topic about Female Genital Mutilation which is a common debate in Africa, especially in West Africa.The issue of Female Genital Mutilation has drawn the attention of the international community and several associations involved in the field of women rights.I come from Mali where this practice is also widespread. I used to talk about FGM with my grand mother in Mali. She told me that the main reason they practice FGM, is to decrease the sexual desire of the women.In the past, we had a system of kingdom and these kingdoms used to fight each other and warriors were sent to wage war. These wars could last for months or years. In this context, to protect the wives of the warriors, FGM was practiced on warriors wives so that they can remain faithful to their husbands by decreasing their sexual desire.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say it is a serious problem that needs to be tackle. A better approach would be to sensitize populations about the health implications of FGM using local experts. I put an emphasize on local experts because they are the people who are trusted ( I have worked with several NGOs on the ground and I know the mentality of the population).
We can put FGM rate on the decline but we need tactics because cultural practices are ingrained in people’s mind and not easy to remove.
I candidly admire the way you have brought out the pervasiveness of FGM, especially in Africa. I like the fact that, we as the lucky few and educated women from this continent can step up and air out some of the deadly practices that are imperative in the light of the development discourse. It is very absurd to see our very young and innocent girls suffer at the hands of the very people who are supposedly meant to protect them, offering mare reasons to justify this barbaric behavior. One thing that we need to be critical of is the way these issues are being presented before the international communities. We need to be fully aware of the implications that tend to be more leaned towards the cultural practices of people from the global south. Like you have mentioned in this blog, stakeholders working around these issues need to pay close attentions to the way they attempt to address them. For example, I am very skeptical of the view that FGM originated from Africa. Although theories on the origin of FGM are bound, nobody really knows where, how or when it started. There's no way of knowing the origin of FGM.It appears in many different cultures, whether from the Australian aboriginal tribes to different African societies is a question that has a remained uncounted for.
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ReplyDeleteFatou- you are absolutely right when you say “FGM is complex issue to address, therefore stakeholders needs to revisit their approaches to put an end to the practice”.
ReplyDeleteI cannot help but compare the discourse of FGM to that of clitorectomy in the United States. In my Gendered Bodies class we recently read articles on intersex individuals i.e. hermaphrodites who have both male and female sex organs. In an effort to address this “congenital deformity” (a debatable diagnosis), medical practitioners perform surgeries (including clitorectomies) so that intersex children can fit into our binary moulds of sex. Many authors, including Cheryl Chase (2009), have questioned what makes these practices any less problematic and barbaric than FGM. I also, cannot help but wonder why one practice is assigned a medical term whereas the other one is called genital mutilation.
This contradictory attitude, to what can be argued as equally problematic practices, is emblematic of the hypocrisy that surrounds the issue. The discourse that FGM is a cultural, barbaric practice that is unique to Africa is therefore not only inaccurate but also highly problematic. I think such patronizing and hypocritical attitudes further alienate communities where the practices are prevalent. Oftentimes, this leads them to hold onto these practices more rigidly than they otherwise would have.
An example of this is the practice of dowry in India. In her essay Dislocating Cultures, Narayan (1997) discusses the impact of using cultural explanations of Third World women’s problems and how they travel back to the country in question and become part of the local discourse. In India, for example, sati and dowry murders are unquestionably accepted as Indian culture, religion and tradition. She points that this is extremely dangerous in a country where criticism of traditions and religion often lead to public outrage (incited by political/fundamentalist groups). This makes challenging and addressing these injustices exponentially more complicated and difficult.
How we approach these issues and how we talk about them therefore becomes almost as important as the need to eliminate these practices.
Great post Fatou!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that female genital cutting is complex to address. I have read many articles that discuss FGC in Somalia, where the prevalence rate is extremely high. Because the rate is so high, tackling the issues associated with FGC takes various strategies that are targeted towards women, girls, and community members such as religious leaders, elders, and men.
One particular article I found intriguing was aimed at exploring the many definitions associated with FGC and how they change among various groups. It highlights the importance of addressing all definitions associated with FGC when attempting to design campaigns around its elimination. In this paper, the various practices of FGC were often interchangeable. When campaigns were launched in Somalia to end type III (infibulation) circumcision, researchers reported many women not knowing which variation they had undergone and often classified it as the less harsh, "Sunni" practice of circumcision. Educating those who were unsure of the different types of circumcision is an important step at ending FGC.
Great post Fatou!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that female genital cutting is complex to address. I have read many articles that discuss FGC in Somalia, where the prevalence rate is extremely high. Because the rate is so high, tackling the issues associated with FGC takes various strategies that are targeted towards women, girls, and community members such as religious leaders, elders, and men.
One particular article I found intriguing was aimed at exploring the many definitions associated with FGC and how they change among various groups. It highlights the importance of addressing all definitions associated with FGC when attempting to design campaigns around its elimination. In this paper, the various practices of FGC were often interchangeable. When campaigns were launched in Somalia to end type III (infibulation) circumcision, researchers reported many women not knowing which variation they had undergone and often classified it as the less harsh, "Sunni" practice of circumcision. Educating those who were unsure of the different types of circumcision is an important step at ending FGC.