Slow progress in ending female genital mutilation

Abstract

was just seven years old when I was cut, says Leyla Hussein, a British woman of Somali origin. first thing I heard was my sister screaming. Then it was my turn. Four women held me down while they cut my clitoris. I felt every single The pain was so intense--I blacked out. Hussein's experience of female genital mutilation (FGM) is fairly typical. The ancient rite of passage in many African and some Middle Eastern countries in which part or all of the genitals are cut off with razors or knives--often without anaesthetic--is supposed to make girls clean and pure, and ready for marriage. The grim reality is that an estimated 125 million women and girls living today have undergone some form of FGM --many of them suffer severe emotional and physical consequences. FGM is classified into four forms ranging from partial or total removal of the clitoris, the outer or inner vaginal lips to narrowing the vaginal opening by partially sealing it up. In countries such as Djibouti, Egypt and Somalia more than 90% of girls undergo some form of FGM, some of them before they are old enough to walk. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The fight to end FGM is now global, with international agencies such as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) at the helm, and has strong support from governments, such as that of the United Kingdom and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). But for women like Hussein, now a London-based psychotherapist and anti-FGM campaigner, progress has been too slow. A few countries have seen rates of FGM fall. In Kenya, these rates in women aged 15 to 49 years fell from 38% in 1998 to 26% in 2008; in the Central African Republic, rates fell from 43% in 1994 to 24% in 2010. Yet most other African countries have seen rates stay stable or fall only marginally. Unless decisive action is taken to stop the the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) projects that 86 million girls between 15 and 19 years will be subjected to FGM by 2030. FGM has no health benefits and often leaves women with lifelong physical and emotional trauma, there is a human rights justification to end the says Dr Joar Svanemyr, from the Department of Reproductive Health and Research at WHO, but he adds, we have solid research evidence to show that FGM has devastating health effects. These include painful menstrual periods and intercourse, urinary problems, and birth complications. According to Dr Nafissatou Diop, FGM expert at UNFPA, FGM leaves a damning legacy, as deaths among babies during and immediately after birth are higher for those born to mothers who have been cut. International pressure to end FGM has been mounting since 1997, when the WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA issued a joint statement calling on governments to ban the practice. This commitment was renewed in 2008 and, in 2012, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution to step up efforts towards the elimination of FGM. Since 2008, nearly 10 000 communities in 15 countries, representing about 8 million people, have renounced the practice, says Diop. While public declarations do not guarantee changes in actual behaviour, they have important symbolic value. A report on FGM released in July last year by UNICEF, entitled Female genital mutilation/cutting: a statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change, provides critical insight into the underlying cultural beliefs. It presents data showing that in many countries where FGM is practised most men and women think the practice should end. So what explains its continuity? According to United Kingdom-based campaigner Hussein, who has talked extensively to men and women from communities where the practice is maintained, some women say they agree to the practice to ensure they are marriageable while men think it is the women who want it. …