Despite the worldwide campaign against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), some women in Governor Ademola Adeleke’s hometown of Ede, Osun State, insist that nothing will stop the practice in their domain.
Women rights activist, who gathered in Lagos at a roundtable in commemoration of the International Day of Zero-Tolerance for FGM, said they had taken the campaign to Ede and the proponents of the act fought them, insisting that the practice must not die.
The roundtable, with the theme, ‘Her Voice’, was organised by CEE-HOPE Nigeria and Hearts 100.
Resource persons at the event include the Founder, YinkaKenny Girls Care Foundation, Yinka Kenny; Founder, Women’s Health and Rights Project, Bose Ironsi; Kingsley Obom-Egbulem of Men Against Rape; Executive Director, SafeHaven Development Initiative, Margaret Nnang; Founder, DOHS CARES Foundation, Ololade Ajayi and Founder, Tonia Bruised But Not Broken Rape Survivors Foundation, Anthonia Ojenagbon.
Other FGM survivors from the South-East, South-West and northern parts of the country joined Ojenagbon to relate their experiences at the roundtable.
Nnang expressed surprise that women, who were the victims of the practice, were the ones promoting it.
Noting that FGM is a global phenomenon, she narrated how the practice started in Japan and spread to other parts of the world.
According to her, the clitoris, which is destroyed by FGM, enhances delivery during labour and sexual pleasure, adding that the latter is also a human right.
She insisted that “FGM must stop in this generation.”
Ironsi disclosed that orthodox medicine practitioners have joined in the promotion and performance of FGM.
The founder of CEE-HOPE, Betty Abah, in her opening remarks, stressed that FGM is not only a human rights violation, but also a crime, as anybody caught in the act is liable for prosecution.
She, therefore, encouraged female students invited to the roundtable to speak out whenever they or anybody they know is about to be subjected to the gruesome act.
Abah noted the three types of FGM performed in different societies in Africa.
“The first is the cutting off of the clitoris, the second is the complete destruction of the clitoris and parts of the birth canal and the third is the destruction of the clitoris and suture of the entire vulva,” she said, adding that the third process is done to prevent the woman from having sexual intercourse till her wedding night when the suture would be cut.
If “female genital destruction” must stop, Obom-Egbulem said fathers need to play important role; hence, male pupils should be involved in subsequent FGM roundtables.
He added: “Men should talk to other men and boys so that the campaign will bear more fruits.”
