TATENDA MICHELE KUFAKWAME
Durban — Female genital mutilation which remains rampant in various parts of Africa and the Middle East, is a violation of female reproductive rights according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) website states that approximately 200 million girls and women had their intimate parts cut in 31 nations worldwide, with age ranges of 0-11years.
Civil society, activists, international development agencies and governments are struggling to find common ground with the enforcers of these conventional ways of sexual grooming or rite of passage, and the parents of these young girls. One could argue that vilifying their customs is a cultural imposition that commits the same colonial crime the decolonial movement seeks to free us from, and that concern is worth raising because as Franz Fanon argued in Black skin White Masks, Africans have essentially been taught to hate themselves.
This legitimising of colonial rule and beliefs lead to the African and customary approaches being perceived as barbaric. However, we need to be critical of some aspects of African culture, especially if it involves the mutilation of minors.
Instead, the respective states that practise this act need to enforce an age of consent for young women. It should be an adult’s personal choice instead of the child’s, this way, culture is maintained whilst young women express their agency.
Additionally, the inaccessibility of sexual education to young girls and women is hindering them from knowing their rights to refuse FGM (Female Genital Mutilation), hence the continuation of the practice in communities such as that of the Maasai.
With that being said, this article emphasises the need for robust enforcement of universal law in retaliation to unlawful female cutting. Secondly, it seeks to bring out the significance of offering formal sex education to the communities that are deeply rooted in the FGM practice, in conjunction with the other current attempts to stop FGM.
Early on this year, the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF),cited the World Health Organisation’s classification of FGM. The WHO divided FGM into four levels of cutting. Type one involves the whole or partial removal of the prepuce and/or clitoris. Second, type two entails the elimination of the labia majora with or without the removal of the clitoris and labia minora.
In addition, type three is the shrinking of the vaginal opening with or without the loss of the clitoris by slicing and forcing together the labia minora and/or labia majora to form a type of seal.
Finally, category four encompasses all non-medical procedures that are harmful to the female genitalia, such as sterilizing, pricking, piercing and incising, and scratching.
Taking from a World Health Organisation newsroom article of January 2023, the practice serves no wellness advantages for girls or women. FGM causes blood loss, bladder issues, cysts, infections, trouble in birthing, and an elevated probability of baby mortality.
It is crucial to recognise the attempts by various organisations such as the United Nations which declared 6 February International Day of Zero Tolerance For Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
“I call on men and boys everywhere to join me in speaking out and stepping forward to end female genital mutilation, for the benefit of all”, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres was quoted in his memo for 2023.
In line with sustainable development goal 5 with an objective of completely doing away with FGM by the year 2030. This collaboration has seen major accomplishments over the years. An estimated 6 million girls and women got FGM avoidance, defence, and care services as a result of the joint program’s support. Over 45 million individuals worldwide have declared strong objection to FGM as reported by the FGM Annual Report of 2021.
The World Health Organisation suggested the medicalisation of FGM for a multitude of reasons. These include: the notion that medicalised FGM has a reduced chance of complications in comparison to non-medicalised FGM as health-care experts do the procedure instead of medically unqualified individuals.
Also, the WHO has faith that medicating FGM might mark the first step toward complete abandonment of the practice. The faith has borne fruits of success as the medical professionals who carry out FGM are personal members of FGM-practicing people, and are regulated by the same social norms; have developed into activists for FGM abolition in clinical settings as well as within their families and communities.
All thanks to the WHO’s aid and training as published on the WHO’s website in January 2023.
Aha Dukureh, a mother and FGM survivor is a popular campaigner and was the UN Women’s Ambassador for Africa in 2019. She then learned she had undergone stage 3 FGM when she was a baby in the Gambia where she was conceived.
Dukureh started voicing out about FGM anonymously shortly after getting pregnant. She strongly felt that she did not want her daughter or any other innocent girls to fall victim to the cutting. Her anonymous advocacy swiftly grew to world-shaking wails, fuelled by her extreme relatedness to that issue.
She wrote “I screamed against FGM and child marriage, posted blogs, threatened to notify law enforcement if I were unable to flee my husband, established an NGO to fight these customs, and approached the Obama administration to conduct inquiries into the rampant practise of FGM in the United States of America’ in a story originally posted on the Medium.com/@UN_Women.
Dukureh also helped write legislation to prohibit FGM in her own nation of Gambia, indicating that her roots are at the centre of all she does for the health and well-being of girls. She managed to accomplish this as she worked within her community, giving her an advantage in knowing how to access locations and spearhead conversations where she could effectively move the needle.
She made a mention of how important it was to collaborate with religious and traditional leaders, as well as communities of men, boys, and parents who held opposing viewpoints.
She suggested that all those outraged against FGM must politely listen to and comprehend their reasons and belief systems, while also protecting their privacy and dignity. Then, employ alternative religious interpretations, and highlight scientific facts on the negative socio-economic and health effects of FGM whilst avoiding passing judgement.
Appreciating the impact of a survivor-led dedication to end FGM, Dukureh wishes to motivate women to share their experiences. “We must empower women and girls, particularly survivors, to be catalysts for change and role models.”
It strikes a chord when a survivor speaks to her own people. “Protecting the privacy and "dignity“ of those who are generating the problem, in my judgment, is not an effective approach to dealing with it. Yes, fighting fire with fire is impractical, but in cases like these, a hard hand is an excellent approach to demonstrate how crucial it is that the entire statute be repealed.
Furthermore, I agree with Dukureh’s position as epistemology is key in advocating for an end to horrid situations. Also, agency in the context of acting against an unpleasant situation provides some closure to women who have already been victimised. Knowing that they have displayed vulnerability has helped to save hundreds of girls from the horrifying and life-changing butchering of their sensitive parts.
Tatenda Michele Kufakwame is an emerging scholar at the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies at the University of Johannesburg.
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