FGM

Girl, 10, Dies After Genital Cutting in Sierra Leone

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A 10-year-old girl has died after undergoing  female genital mutilation (FGM) during an initiation into a secret women’s society in Sierra Leone, police said on Wednesday, sparking renewed calls for the practice to be banned.

Authorities have arrested the woman in charge of initiations as investigations continue, said Amadu Turay, unit commander of the Mile 91 police division, in Sierra Leone’s northern Tonkolili district about 240 km (145 miles) east of Freetown.

“She died of blood loss,” Turay told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, adding that it was assumed FGM was the cause.

A local activist said 67 other girls were reported to have been initiated and were awaiting medical examination.

Female genital cutting is widely practiced in the West African nation as part of girls’ initiation into secret societies which wield significant political clout.

Nine in 10 women have been cut in Sierra Leone which has one of the highest rates of FGM in Africa, according to United Nations data. It is one of only a handful of African countries which has not outlawed the internationally condemned practice.

The ritual typically involves the partial or total removal of the female genitalia and can cause serious health problems. The last reported death in Sierra Leone was two years ago, and the victim was 19.

Activists have helped develop a national strategy for FGM reduction but are waiting for the government to adopt it, said campaigner Rugiatu Turay, formerly the deputy minister of social welfare, gender and children’s affairs.

Just last week discussions on the strategy were held with religious leaders, doctors and chiefs in the district where the girl died, she said. One of the things they were told was to warn parents of the risk of death.

“Now that we have this situation, we want to just set the law,” said Turay, founder of Amazonian Initiative Movement, a grassroots anti-FGM group in Sierra Leone.

“FGM is killing our women and girls. We need to get enough publicity on this incident to draw the attention of government.”

A government spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

President Julius Maada Bio this month launched a campaign led by the First Lady called “Hands Off Our Girls,” focused on ending rape and child marriage, according to a statement.

Though it aims to eliminate “all forms of abuses against woman and girls,” the campaign does not mention FGM.

Physician Invents Reconstructive Surgery For Female Genital Mutilation.

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There is new hope for the hundreds of millions of women worldwide who have been subjected to genital mutilation.

A surgeon in Penn Medicine’s Center for Human Appearance has developed a reconstructive procedure that can increase sexual function and, patients’ early experiences suggest, help heal the emotional and psychological wounds associated with the mutilation. Ivona Percec, an assistant professor of Surgery in the division of Plastic Surgery, reports on her use of the technique in three patients this month in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal. She also calls for greater awareness of this human rights issue in support of women who’ve suffered these experiences across the world.

 “Plastic surgeons have a crucial role to play in this recovery, and it’s important for physicians to be informed and prepared to address the surgical and emotional needs of women who seek care for this,” Percec said. “Our procedure is simple yet effective and can help victims restore their physical and psychological sense of well-being.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as, “any procedure that intentionally alters or causes injury to female genital organs for non-medical reasons and with no health benefits.” An estimated 200 million women have been subjected to FGM around the world, usually between the first week of life and adolescence, and often by their caregivers. It is a cultural ritual in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia to encourage female sexual fidelity. It is internationally recognized as a violation of human rights.

FGM can also have long-term consequences, including severe pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, cysts, recurrent infections, and even death.

All three women were between the ages of 30 and 33 and had recently immigrated to the United States from Sierra Leone. In each case, the women were married but had not told their husbands they had undergone FGM as children.

“These women were embarrassed that they were subjected to this procedure, in particular since relocating to the United States,” Percec said. “All of them were able to have intercourse, but without pleasure – usually with pain.”

The patients wanted to know if there were any surgical options available to help them look and feel more normal. After Percec’s research turned up little in the way of established procedures, she used her knowledge of other reconstructive techniques in hopes of restoring appearance and function.

With an average follow up of almost a year, all three patients reported improved sexual function and decreased embarrassment with their partners. All three women said they would recommend this procedure to others who have suffered FGM.

“Female genital mutilation is a violation of the basic rights of women and children,” Percec said. “As nations around the world work to eliminate this custom, plastic surgeons can play an important role in the physical, emotional, and psychological recovery of women everywhere.”

History Has Been Made. Female Genital Mutilation Banned In Nigeria.

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“More than 130 million girls and women have experienced female genital mutilation or cutting …”

 

Nigeria made history by outlawing female genital mutilation. The ban falls under the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act 2015 that was passed in Senate on May 5 and recently enacted into law.

This was one of the last acts by the outgoing president, Goodluck Jonathan. His successor, Muhammadu Buhari, was sworn into office this past Friday, May 29.

 Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) is the act of either partially or totally removing the external female genitalia or causing injury to the female genital organs for non-medical purposes.

According to UNICEF:

“More than 130 million girls and women have experienced FGM/C in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where the practice is most common.”

With the help of community activism, campaigns and numbers of organizational efforts to end this practice, UNICEF reported that teenage girls were now one-third less likely to undergo FGM/C today than 30 years ago.

Now with the new law criminalizing this procedure, the hope is the ban will fully eliminate this practice and be strongly enforced to combat any existing societal pressures.

The World Health Organization cites immediate harmful effects of FCM/C that include hemorrhage (bleeding), bacterial infection, open sores, and long-term consequences that include infertility, childbirth complications and recurring bladder infections.

In another UNICEF report, communities who practice FGM often do so to reduce sexual desire in women and to initiate girls to womanhood, among other purposes.

According to “The Guardian‘s” analysis of 2014 UN data, a quarter of the women in Nigeria have undergone FGM.

Stella Mukasa, director of Gender, Violence and Rights at the International Center for Research on Women, explains the complexity of the implementation of the new law banning FGM/C.

“It is crucial that we scale up efforts to change traditional cultural views that underpin violence against women,” she wrote in an article for “The Guardian.” “Only then will this harmful practice be eliminated.”

Under hashtag #VAPPBIll, Twitter users celebrated the bill’s passing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act serves to protect women and violence in multiple aspects. BuzzFeed News cited a 2013 version of the bill that highlights its purpose to eliminate violence both in private and public, and end physical, sexual, domestic and psychological violence.

Female genital mutilation

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_genital_mutilation