Time to uproot FGM

UNICEF postulates that there are more than 125 million girls and women alive today who have been cut in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is concentrated.

As many as 30 million girls are also said to be at risk of being cut before their 15th birthday if current trends continue. Indeed, in 2021, it was estimated that 4.16 million girls and women were at risk of FGM due to the COVID-19 disruption.

FGM refers to “all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons”.

It is a violation of girls’ and women’s human rights and condemned by many international treaties and conventions, as well as legislation in many countries, yet where it is practised, FGM/C is performed in line with tradition and social norms to ensure that girls are socially accepted and marriageable and to uphold their status and honour and that of their entire families.

UNICEF works with governments and civil society partners towards the elimination of FGM/C in countries where it is still practised, with Ghana being no exception.

On February 6, 2022, the country joined the rest of the world to mark Zero Tolerance of FGM. February 6, every year is instituted by the United Nations (UN) to draw global attention to the plight of millions of women and girls who suffer from this obnoxious practice.

We at the Daily Graphic would like to add our voice to consolidate international efforts at ending the practice.

Available data in Ghana indicate that the national prevalence of FGM stands at four per cent. In 1994, the Criminal Code Amendment Bill criminalised the practice and, according to this law, circumcisers can be sentenced to up to three years’ imprisonment.

This notwithstanding, the practice is still high in some parts of the country, as, according to the UNFPA, the Upper West Region recorded 32.5 per cent FGM cases on women between 15 and 49 years, while in the Upper East Region, 13.2 per cent of women also went through the practice, making the two regions the highest in FGM cases in 2021.

Women and girls who have also undergone FGM are at risk of both short- and long-term consequences. The short-term risks of FGM include severe pain, excessive bleeding, shock, genital tissue swelling, heightened risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after using the same knife to cut women/girls, impaired wound healing, psychological consequences and even death.

Long-term consequences of the practice include infections, such as chronic genital, reproductive tract and urinary tract infections, and pain, including painful urination and intercourse and menstrual problems.

Other risks of FGM include keloids, obstetric complications, perinatal risks, reduction in sexual quality, dyspareunia, psychological consequences, among others.

Clinical studies have revealed that FGM is detrimental to reproductive health, but the practice is reported to be sustained by traditional and social values that need to be understood and addressed by intervention programmes.

Some are convinced that FGM prevents women from becoming promiscuous, while others believe that when the clitoris touches the child’s head during delivery, the child will die. All these are not backed by facts but the mindset and myth surrounding the practice, which need to be demystified.

We support the call by the Country Representative of the UNFPA, Mr Niyi Ojualape, on the government and other stakeholders to join forces against the practice.

He appealed to leaders to use their positions to speak up against the practice, which, according to him, was endangering the lives of many girls.

It is our contention that there is the need for more stakeholders to come on board for increased awareness creation and law enforcement if the practice is to be uprooted from the country totally.

We also call for continuous education on the practice, as it is deeply rooted in the culture and practices of especially rural communities..

Finally, as the practice constitutes an abuse of women’s fundamental human rights, including the right to life, standard of health and freedom from mental and physical torture, we believe the time has come for the country to take a serious look at it and ensure that it is not entertained.