Gynaecologist warns against female genital mutilation

Dr Maureen Umeh, a Gynaecologist at the National Hospital, Abuja, on Tuesday warned against female genital mutilation (FGM), describing it as an abominable practice.

Umeh said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja ahead of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation scheduled for Feb. 6.

She said that FGM procedures could lead to severe bleeding and urinary problems, saying the tradition should be halted.

“It can also lead to cysts, infections, infertility, complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths,’’ she warned.

According to her, FGM includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

“Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

“FGM has no health benefits and it harms girls and women in many ways. It involves removing and damaging healthy and normal female genital tissue, and interferes with the natural functions of girls’ and women’s bodies.

“Most of the time, it is done without anesthesia for a child of that tender age as the child is exposed to chronic pain, bleeding, sometimes leading to death,’’ Umeh said.

She said some women or children were exposed to immediate or long term complication, adding that FGM was done to avoid infidelity in marriages and reduction in sexual pleasures.

Umeh said immediate complications could include severe pain, shock, bleeding, tetanus infection, urine retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to nearby genital tissue.

She said some women experienced painful intercourse, thereby requiring surgery in the clitoris. “The long-term consequences can include recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections, cysts, infertility, an increased risk of childbirth complications and newborn deaths.

“The woman goes through repeated opening and closing procedures of surgery, further increasing and repeated both immediate and long-term risks,’’ Umeh said.

She said procedures were mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15, and occasionally on adult women. Umeh said the practice was most common in the Western, Eastern and North-eastern regions of Africa, in some countries in Asia and the Middle East as well as among migrants from these areas.

She said the practice was mostly carried out by traditional circumcisers, who often played other central roles in communities such as attending childbirths. Umeh said FGM was recognised internationally as a violation of the rights of girls and women.

“It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. “It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children.

The practice also violates a person’s rights to health, security and physical integrity. “The right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death,’’ she said.

Umeh called for public awareness on FGM and policy to totally stop the cruel practice in the country.