RULE of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC), an advocacy group, says Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) does not protect chastity, but drives promiscuity.

The group made the assertion at a forum to campaign against FGM and other harmful traditional practices on Sunday in Awka.

Mrs Nkoli Ebede, Coordinator, Legal Aid Council in Anambra and a panellist at the forum, described FGM as the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

She said communities around the globe and in Anambra practiced FGM, claiming it was a panacea for promiscuity and means of protecting women’s chastity.

“With FGM, sexual satisfaction is gone. Such mutilated girls or women will end up becoming promiscuous because they will be going from one man to another in search of sexual satisfaction.

“So, we can now see the irony, they claim they want to tame girls and women by practicing FGM, but it is actually the opposite,’’ she said.

Ebede listed numerous complications of FGM as severe pain, excessive bleeding, genital tissue swelling, fever, infection, urinary problems, wound healing problems, shock and even death.

In her presentation, Mrs Uju Onyendilefu, a consultant with RoLAC, said it carried out a research in communities and discovered the continued practice of FGM in Anambra.

“During our research, these communities told us they had stopped female genital ‘cutting’ because they no longer use blade for fear of the child bleeding out, whereas they still do what is called ‘Numbing’.

“They use very hot water, methylated balm, or dusting powder to harshly rob and numb the genital part of a new born baby to retard the development of the clitoris.

“These communities found another method to achieve the same purpose which they believe would help curb sexual desire and tame girls or women,’’ she said.

Another panellist, Ms Hope Okoye, Anambra Coordinator, Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP), law implementation committee, said there was the need for sensitisation on the dangers of FGM.

“The practice can be described as total violation of a child’s right to health, sexual satisfaction and physical integrity; the right to be free from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.

“We need to intensify awareness on the existence of the VAPP law and the penalties for perpetrators to serve as deterrence,’’ she said.

In her remarks, Mrs Josephine Onah, Anambra Lead, RoLAC, said it planned to carry out sensitisation in rural areas on the harmful effects of FGM using local languages and citing examples of the complications.

She explained that rural dwellers still regarded FGM as a cultural right.

Onah called for media partnership to increase awareness on gender-based violence to increase access to justice for victims.

– NAN

More mothers have joined the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Nigeria

A check conducted indicate that the long time tradition of female circumcision is still practiced in some places, but viewed as a gross injustice to the female child in some quarters.

Mrs Efe Osas, a civil servant in Abuja, on Tuesday told said that FGM otherwise known as female genital cutting or female circumcision is reprehensible and unhealthy.

“It is defined as all procedures that involve the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or any other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons,” Osas said.

She said it is a procedure that causes injury to the female genitals without medical indication and FGM was practiced in ancient times in Africa and some continents.

Osas said that FGM was used as treatment for clitoral enlargement, hysteria, lesbianism and erotomania.

She advised parents to shun the practice and advocate for a better lifestyle.

A businesswoman, Mrs Oluchi Ezeorah, say FGM is harmful to the female child and it affects her entire life especially when she gets married.

“They practice it because it prevents promiscuity by reducing a woman’s sexual desire and increasing her faithfulness to her husband.

“Some belief that women who have undergone FGM are more fertile and have an easier time giving birth as it improves their ability to tolerate the pain of childbirth,” she said.

Ezeorah said no matter the belief, the practice was wrong and the government should prosecute anyone who practiced such act.

Ms Amirat Mu’azu, a worker, said FGM has serious health burden, infection, pain in passing urine, chronic pelvic pain and painful menstruation, among others.

Also, those women often experience difficulty and pain during sexual intercourse with the consequence of having a poor quality of sexual life, she noted.

On her part, an elderly woman, Lady Ijeoma Emeka, said FGM can make a lady psychological unstable.
“It’s a very traumatic experience for the victims,” she said.

Emeka said some culture circumcise their girl child at teenage, which could be very painful as no anaesthesia was given as they use sharp object for the circumcision.

“Self esteem issues sometimes manifest by feeling incomplete,” said Emeka.

Mr Emmanuel Offor, a banker, said that the new generation should advocate and create more awareness why FGM should be stopped.

He also said that some men got married to the affected ladies, which affects their life and may end up in divorce.

NAN reports that the Federal Government of Nigeria, development partners and other civil society organisations are campaigning against the practice in the country.