An authoritative looking man sharpens his knife, getting ready to halve a watermelon. In the distance, Christmas carols are sung in Swahili and young girls are being clothed with bright-colored dresses and fed with consistent food to give them strength. Raising his head, he says:
"Get someone she trusts to take her to the ceremonial location. Perform it, and if she isn’t strong enough, leave her to die and throw her body to the lions.’’
Christmas isn’t the only traditional festivity during the month of December. December is also the cutting season in Tanzania. Everywhere, girls are getting ready for their rite of passage from childhood to adulthood. The promise of presents and more dowry awaits them beyond this event. One by one, aunts and grandmothers lead the girls into little houses. The faint sound of singing and music dims away. Then falls silence. Nothing. But then, a scream.
Female Genital Mutilation (*FGM) is the removal of either certain or all parts of the female external genitalia. It is unknown from where exactly this tradition stems, as it appears in various cultures, such as Australian aboriginal tribes and African societies. Even though the reason for this procedure comes from beliefs about its positive effects, it has consequential repercussions on the female sexual and reproductive capacities. Communities trust that it is a way of reducing promiscuity amongst women, of increasing the receipt of more dowry or the chance of marriage – or they simply see it as a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood.
According to a statistical analysis, more than 200 million females alive today have undergone FGM. It happens to approximately two million annually, between infancy and age 15 (*1). Despite being illegal globally, it is still practiced. Due to tolerance and the lack of strict enforcement in certain places, it’s easy to perform in secrecy. Practiced in 26 of 43 African countries, it is also common in the Middle East and parts of Asia.
The most severely affected country is Somalia, located in eastern Africa. Compared to other countries, it has the highest prevalence of FGM (98%), meaning most girls will undergo the procedure. The procedure performed here is also the most severe of three types, called infibulation. In Somali, it’s known as ‟Qodob,’’ which means ‟to sew up.” After being cut, the vaginal opening is sewn up, leaving only a small hole for the release of urine and menstrual blood. The two other ways of cutting are less severe yet equally harmful. Type 1 is recognized as clitoridectomy. It consists of partially or totally removing the clitoris and its hood, called the prepuce, which is formed by the inner folds of the vulva. Type 2 is known as excision, which is again partial or total removal of the clitoris, plus the labia minora.
Also known as sunna, khatna, gudniin, tahur, megrezand khita, etc in other parts of the world.
It’s impossible to say how many girls suffer and die from FGM annually. The reasons, however, are strongly connected to the unhygienic and extreme methods of cutting, which involve tools such as dirty blades, knives and razors. This leaves the girls at even higher risk of infections such as HIV or chronic genital, reproductive and urinary tract infections. Obstetric fistula is also common: this is an abnormal opening between a woman’s genital and urinary tract or rectum. Not only does FGM have an impact physically, but also mentally. The decrease in sexual desire and the absence of sexual pleasure arising from FGM result in depression and the possibility of developing post-traumatic stress and anxiety disorders.
Neema Meremo, a 24-year-old FGM activist from Tanzania, says that girls die from the procedure. ‟It is the worst thing that can happen after FGM.” Once a girl’s been cut, she isn’t allowed to seek medical services from hospitals. ‟Sometimes, if she cannot be saved, she is thrown into the wilderness and eaten by animals,” Neema says.
Recently, due to the continuing practice among immigrants from countries where FGM is common, awareness has been raised in countries where, until recently, it has been an alien-like activity. Countries such as Australia, England, Canada and the US have started fighting against FGM while trying to raise awareness of its severity. Volunteering, campaigning, creating charities and proposal grants have become popular in this field and have helped many girls. Women in the directly affected countries have also started to fight and protect themselves, founding safe houses in order to provide shelter. These usually fill up during the cutting season, when girls who refuse to get cut run away from home, seeking help from others.
The Mara Region of Tanzania offers refuge in two rural towns, Mugumu and Butiama. These are Safe Houses open to girls who flee from their homes, escaping FGM or other issues like child marriage. Founded by people who have seen its detrimental effects, ‟it’s a home for every girl who needs protection and support,” says Rhobi Samwelli, founder of the Mugumu Safe House. National and international organizations have also made an immense contribution to the funding of these houses, helping with the costs of shelter, clothes, food and school necessities. The The FAWCO Foundation is one non-profit organization which has supported Rhobi’s initiative with a development grant of US$ 4,500 in 2018.
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Gemma Romain handing over the Developmnt Grant certificate to Rhobi Samwelly at the Muguma Safe House. (Images courtesy Gemma Romain)
Several African countries have started educating young boys about the actual dangers linked to the procedure. They’re taught that girls aren’t healthy, physically or mentally, after the procedure. In order to make them understand, they refer to circumcised females as ‟useless’’ and ‟weak.’’ According to Neema, this has been the only way of educating young boys who are subjected to the influence of their peers: ‟The community doesn’t believe that a practice that’s been there that long could have effects on the girls; this is due to a lack of information and holding on to harmful cultural practices that have been normalized. Getting to change their minds about it proves hard.’’ Not only do men encourage and accept this, girls do too. Neema explains that this is due to the lack of knowledge of FGM’s effects, the peer pressure girls feel after seeing friends undergoing it and the receiving of presents. It is sold to them as an opportunity to get out of poverty and as a promise of value and marriage.
The consequences are often unknown amongst girls. Some are much too young to understand why it’s done and what it is. The procedure may also surprise them due to their ignorance. This is why there is such a large number of endangered girls. It happens and it is often performed at such young ages that girls don’t even realize or remember while growing up. Neema informs us that occasionally girls won’t even know they’ve been subjected to this. It’s when they see other girls that they start wondering.
She explains that she’s already had to inform a girl herself that she was circumcised, way before she could remember. In other cases, girls will fight but still fail to get away and escape being cut. In the UK, Aissa Idem, a midwife who runs a specialist FGM clinic, was mutilated at the age of 6. She tells her story bravely, of how she fought but failed to escape. Sarian Karim Kamara tells the sad truth of how she cannot take her children to see her family in Africa because the risk of FGM is too high. ‟Leaving your child alone for a split second could result in them being snatched away and being circumcised.’’
The UK has seen a rise in the practice of FGM, and the country recently had its first-ever FGM conviction. After a long police investigation, a mother was found guilty of mutilating her own daughter and was sentenced 11 years in jail.
‟Seeing girls’ dreams shattered immediately after undergoing FGM breaks my heart, not anyone deserves this,” says Neema.
Author’s bio: Gemma Romain is the daughter of Jane Romain (Munich IWC). She is currently completing the final year of her Bachelor’s degree in Media, Communications & Cultural Studies at Goldsmith’s, University of London. She plans to pursue her Master’s degree next year in the sphere of Journalism.
References:
https://www.who.int/health-topics/female-genital-mutilation#tab=tab_1
https://www.nhs.uk/video/pages/speaking-with-patients-about-fgm.aspx