Nigerians express support for legislation to end FGM

9 out of 10 Nigerians will support the legislation to end Female Genital Mutilation(FGM) in Nigeria as shown in a recently released survey by NOIPolls.
An estimated 200 million girls and women are believed to have been subjected to FGM, a predominant occurrence in sub-Saharan Africa and Arab states. African countries where FGM is prevalent include Benin, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan.
87% of Nigerians as revealed by the survey indicated awareness of the practice while 13 per cent showed complete ignorance of the practice.
However, 64 per cent of respondents indicated that the practice was not prevalent in their local communities as against 36 per cent of respondents who agreed that the practice was common in varying degrees.
88 per cent of respondents expressed their displeasure with the practise while 12 per cent of respondents with an equal ratio of male and female expressed their firm support of FGM.
48 per cent of these respondents claimed that the practice prevented women from being promiscuous and the North-west zone accounted for a large portion of this group with emphasis on Kano state. Traditional and religious beliefs and abating health implications were also cited among reasons supporting the practise in these regions.
33 per cent of respondents in the South West who are in support of the practise believe it eases child delivery for women.
On the other hand, 88 per cent of respondents who expressed displeasure with the practice cited health complications and religious beliefs as their reasons for not being support saying that the practice was unethical, unnecessary and out-dated.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 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. In localities where the practice is prevalent, it is usually carried out by traditional birth attendants on young girls between infancy and the age of 15.
WHO declares that this procedure, contrary to popular belief in localities where they are practised, have no health benefits for women and children but on the flip side can cause sever bleeding and problems urinating, cysts, infections as well as increase complications in child birth and increased risks of newborn deaths. Hence, WHO has declared FGM as a violation of human rights of girls and women.
In 1997, WHO issued a joint statement against the practice of FGM together with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Since then, great efforts have been made to counteract the practice through policy frame works and partnerships between international bodies like WHO and local communities where the practice is present and their governments.
In countries like England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the practice of FGM has been prohibited and parents who subject their female children to the practice could face a 14 year prison sentence if found guilty.

In May 2015, a bill was passed in senate prohibiting the practice of FGM and female circumcision. However, the practice is still prevalent in certain states in the country. The results of the survey shows high occurrences in Ondo, Kwara, Enugu, Delta, Adamawa, Ebonyi, Ondo, Cross-River, Anambra and Niger states.
From the responses received, the cultural inclinations of localities where the practice is still championed will impede the effectiveness of policies or legal framework against the practice of FGM.

“As the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria’s decision carries significant weight, but it would need to be implemented effectively”, said Mary Wandia, FGM programme manager of Equality Now in response to the passage of the bill earlier in 2015.

More importantly, “It is crucial that we scale up efforts to change traditional cultural views that underpin violence against women. Only then will this harmful practice be eliminated”, writes Stella Mukasa, Director of gender, violence and rights at the International Center for Research on Women, in the Guardian.

The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 5, seeks to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls worldwide, including the elimination of harmful practices like female genital mutilation and child marriages.

And while deep legal and legislative changes prohibiting such practices are beneficial, implementation is even more vital to achieve SDG goal 5 in the country.

Therefore, a  multi-stakeholder approach, involving medical practitioners, state & local government officials, federal & state ministries of health, traditional rulers, indigenous healthcare attendants, non-government organisations, girls and women in these localities and the general public needs to be adopted to address the issue in a cross-cutting manner.

This will include continued local sensitization programmes on the long term harmful effects of FGM in the lives of women especially in communities where these practices are still heavily propagated.