Tag Archives: FGM

Osun State has the ‘highest rate’ of circumcised women in Nigeria – UNICEF

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Nearly eight in 10 women have undergone circumcision in Osun, according to UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

 

The statistics of Ebonyi was also rated next to Osun, with Ekiti coming third, Imo, fourth, and Oyo, 5th.

 

“FGM comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other cutting of or injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It is recognised internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women,” UNICEF said.

 

The organisation called on governments at all levels, civil society organisations, and traditional and religious leaders to come together to end the scourge of female genital mutilation in Nigeria.

 

Mohammed Fall, UNICEF representative in Nigeria, said there is no benefit to mutilating or cutting any girl as it causes severe physical and psychological harm.

 

The organisation said it is working with federal and state governments in southern states where the practice is most prevalent, training partners, creating awareness at all levels and working with communities to convince practitioners and community members to promote an end to the practice.

 

“We applaud the progress that has been made in Nigeria, but there is still a long way to go. Even though this practice has persisted for over a thousand years, our evidence tells us that with collective action, it can end in one generation,”said Mohamed Fall.

 

“It violates a woman’s rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and even – in some cases – the right to life.”

Agency Warns Of Health Hazards In Female Circumcision.

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Parents and guardians have been urged to desist from circumcising their female children, a practice known as genital mutilation to avoid health hazards inherent in the practice.

The Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Imo State, Mr Vitus Ekeocha, gave the warning at a two-day training organised in Owerri, the capital of the state, in south-east Nigeria, for Community Advocates.

It focused on eradicating Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and cutting.

Mr Ekeocha noted that the practice was not only dehumanising but often lead to complications especially during childbirth.

The NOA state director told participants to see themselves as change agents in their communities by sensitising the people on the dangers of female circumcision.

“When you circumcise a girl Child, you are causing health and psychological damage to her. Whether you are cutting or using hand to rub, leave the genital organ of the girl the way God created her. We discovered that most of the women who undergo FGM find it difficult during labour or it may even affect the urethral,” he said.

In an interview some of the participants Mrs Edith Achodo and Mr Chibuzor Ndukwe, vowed to champion the crusade against the practice.

Mrs Achodo said: “I do practice it. I was circumcised and I do teach pregnant women during antenatal talks that they should press it hard so it could go inside, but today with what I have learnt, if I go back to the hospital, I will tell them that it is wrong and that they should stop it”.

On his part, Mr Ndukwe said: “Sometimes they say that it’s tradition, but it is wrong according to what we learnt here today. The practice is evil and when we go back, we will let them know that they should not allow such to happen again because it is not healthy.”

Participants were drawn from 25 communities of Ehime Mbano, Ideato North, Ihitte Uboma, Owerri municipal and Owerri west local government areas.

Female Genital Mutilation also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is the ritual removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

There are several myths that have promoted the practice, including claims that women not circumcised have insatiable desire for sex.

After UN report, 12 Osun communities renounce female circumcision

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Efforts at eradicating the female genital mutilation, FGM, in Osun received a boost on Tuesday as 12 communities across four local governments declared their intentions to completely stop the practice.

The declaration was made at the Female Mutilation Abandonment Declaration Ceremony organised by the Shericare Foundation, SCARF, an initiative of the wife of the governor, Sherifat Aregbesola.

The communities that declared against FMG include Eko Ende, Eko Ajala, Iba, Asa, Iwo Oke, Ajagunlase, Alapata, Owode, Araromi in Ifelodun, Olaoluwa, Ede North and Orolu Logal Governments of the state.

The United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, in its report on FGM, said that Osun State still ranked highest in the prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation practice in Nigeria with over 76.3 per cent.

The UN said the practice was high in the South-West in spite of the geo-political zone’s high literacy and awareness rate.

According to the report, Osun had 76.3 per cent prevalence rate, Ekiti had 71.2, Oyo, 69.7; Ebonyi, 55.6; Imo, 48.8; and Lagos, 44.8.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola described Female Genital Mutilation, a cultural practice of removing part of the female genital either as a customary rite of initiation into womanhood or as a check against promiscuity, as harmful.

He said that the harmful practice according to UNICEF is prevalent in developing countries, especially in Africa and Asia.

“According to a February 2016 report by United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), there are records for 27 countries in Africa, including Somalia (96 per cent), Guinea (97 per cent), Djibouti (93 per cent), Egypt (91 per cent) and Sierra Leone (90 per cent) still practising FGM. From this same report, we learnt that as of 2013, 27.2 million women had undergone FGM in Egypt, 23.8 million in Ethiopia, and 20 million in Nigeria. In Indonesia, the prevalence rate for children under 11 years is 49 per cent, translating to 13.4 million,” the governor stated.

“In Nigeria, six states top the list of where the practice is prevalent. These are Osun, Ekiti, Oyo, Ebonyi, Imo and Lagos. FGM is deeply rooted in culture but flies in the face of common sense, decency, basic health and human right.

“The crux of this advocacy is to expunge it from our belief system. I am glad that we have the cooperation of our traditional rulers, religious leaders, community leaders and aficionados of arts and culture.

“The core changes must include that: one, it is no longer necessary as a cultural requirement, two, that it is indeed harmful and cruel physically and psychologically. The victims, we must note, are our daughters, sisters, aunties, cousins, nieces, wives and mothers.

“I do not see any other category closer and dearer to us than these and therefore do not deserve to be subjected to this hurtful practice any longer.”

The president of the Foundation, Mrs. Aregbesola, reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to achieving zero tolerance on Female Genital Mutilation/Circumcision in the state.

She said the Foundation had engaged in many activities towards boosting the awareness campaigns to end the harmful effects of Female Genital Mutilation and Circumcision in every nook and cranny of the state.

She further said her foundation had also committed itself to intensive advocacy to eradicate the traditional practice of FGM in the state through regular interface with a number of communities, public sensitisation, jingles sponsorship on radio, television stations as well as printing and circulation of the state law which makes it illegal for anyone to circumcise any female child or any woman in the state.

“The journey to today’s event started early 2015 when a team of the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) officials visited our state as the meeting afforded us the opportunity to appreciate the necessity of collective efforts to wage an intensive and comprehensive awareness campaign on the dangers that continued practice of female circumcision bear for our female children, our women and our people in general,” she explained.

“It is true that the practice of female circumcision was rooted in traditional and religious beliefs, but scientific findings have revealed that such beliefs are injurious to life.”

Mrs. Aregbesola attributed the public declaration of abandonment of FGM by twelve communities in the state as a manifestation of the efforts being made by the Foundation to abolish the menace.

She therefore appealed to the residents in the state to always abstain from the acts, saying female circumcision does not bear any positive fruit but rather a basket of dangers and sometimes death to the women.

Earlier, the guest speaker and the Head of Lagos Liaison Office, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Omolaso Omosehin, commended Governor Aregbesola for his continued support towards eradication of Female Genital Mutilation in the state.

He said the contribution of the state government had impacted positively towards putting an end to Female Genital Mutilation.

He described the occasion as timely, saying the forum was a reflection of symbolic commitment demonstrated by the state government of Osun to end Female Genital Mutilation and other forms of harmful traditional practices that impact negatively on women and girls.

Osun state records highest prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) – UNFPA

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The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on Thursday said that Osun still recorded highest prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Nigeria with over 76.3 per cent.

Damilola Obinna, a Gender Analyst with UNFPA, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that FGM was high in the South-West in spite of the geo-political zone’s high literacy and awareness rate.

Mrs. Obinna said the statistics was arrived at after a survey was carried out by UNFPA in collaboration with UNICEF in 2015.

“After data collation and analysis, we discovered that Osun had 76.3 per cent prevalence rate, Ekiti had 71.2, Oyo, 69.7; Ebonyi, 55.6; Imo, 48.8; and Lagos, 44.8.

“There is no single benefit in the practice of female genital mutilation; yet, the practice is high even among the educated.

“Aside from the immediate risks of FGM which includes haemorrhage, infections, and death, survivors of FGM are liable to present later in their lives recurring urinary tract infections, menstrual problems, reproductive tract infections, depression, sexual dysfunction and pain, and chronic genital pain.

“They are also at risk for several adverse complications for both mother and newborn during childbirth,’’ she said.

Mrs. Obinna said that in Lagos, the awareness of FGM was high but statistics showed that four out of 10 girls or women had undergone female genital mutilation.

She said that Lagos Island L.G.A. recorded the highest prevalence with 51.6 per cent while Somolu L.G.A. had the lowest prevalence with 20.9 per cent.

“We discovered that most Lagos indigenes don’t cut their girls but the people who moved into Lagos from Kwara, Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Ebonyi and some other states, moved in with their culture which includes FGM.

“These people who still practice FGM claimed that it is a social expectation that most be carried out and that it cannot be stopped,’’ she said.

Mr. Obinna urged state governments to enact laws that would prohibit FGM in their states.

She said the states could domesticate the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act (VAPP) of 2015.

She also urged governments to organise regular enlightenment programmes involving traditional, religious and community leaders to drive the message home.

“These people are role models in the society; people listen and emulate them; so, they must be fully involved in the total eradication of FGM,’’ Obinna said.