By Innocent Onoh
Governments in Nigeria have been urged to criminalise “Female Genital Mutilation”, FGM, and ensure that anyone caught perpetrating the dangerous act is punished according to law.
The Executive Director, Women’s Rights and Health Project, Lagos, Bose Ironsi made the call at a seminar to mark 2023 International Day or Zero tolerance for FGM.
Held on Monday in Ikeja , Lagos, on the seminar was attended by women and girls, men and boys as well as some professionals including media stakeholders.
In a remark, Ironsi said they essence of the seminar was to increase awareness on the need for zero female genital mutilation in Nigeria.
According to her, the nation already has a law prohibiting the practice and that it behoves on the authorities to enforce it.
Ironsi noted that there is no benefit of carrying out Female Genital Mutilation, rather it leaves the victims with lifetime devastating consequences.
She observed that while awareness on the issue has significantly led to reduction of female circumcision across the country, some people even in the cities still secretly carry it out.
Ironsi therefore called on all and sundry to unite in fishing out all those that have continued to subject the women folks to such torture in the name of circumcising them, while the necessary legal actions are brought on them.
She urged Nigerians in all parts of the country to jettison any superstitions surrounding female genital mutilation, saying they are false and targeted at increasing violence against women.
Some of the participants in their submissions tearfully reeled out a number of superstitions surrounding female circumcision that have made it difficult for the culture to completed disappear.
For instance, some were made to believe that uncircumcised women will not live above 40 years especially if the affected people still remain single at that age.
Some said they were told that if not cut, the clitoris will grow non-stop for the rest of their lives.
There was also a superstition that if the tip of the clitoris touches the head of the baby during childbirth, the baby will die.
Majority of them said their major reason for circumcising girls was to tame their sexual urge and stop them from being promiscuous.
On her part, the Executive Director CEE-HOPE Nigeria, Betty Abah noted with displeasure that FGM has the tendency to make a woman to become even more promiscuous as such people rarely get satisfied by one man.
Abah who described FGM as a crime against humanity especially women and girls, said studies have shown that so many woman die annually from complications and infections as a result of the practice.
She stated that some of the victims contracted life threatening diseases and infections including HIV/AIDS after being circumcised with infected objects.
The essence of male involvement in the event was in line with the theme of the celebration aimed at making men integral part of the advocacy on zero female genital mutilation.
The speakers said men can contribute by insisting that they would only marry women that are uncircumcised.
The seminar was organised by NGOs CEE-HOPE Nigeria and Hearts100 under the theme: Partnership with men and boys to transform social and gender norms to end FGM