Addressing Female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria

Despite countless efforts by Non-Governmental Organisations and Civil Society Organisations to address female genital mutilation, the prevalence still remains high in some states. In this report Ugo Aliogo examines the issues driving the action

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been identified as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. FGM is practiced in about 30 countries across Africa such as Central African Republic, Ghana, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Nigeria and others. Research has shown that FGM has the highest prevalence in Somalia and Djibouti. However, Nigeria has been identified to share an overwhelming amount of burden as regards FGM/C. The Thomson Reuters Foundation reported FGM/C prevalence of 24.8% among women of reproductive age in Nigeria. Furthermore, about 20 million women and girls have been mutilated or cut, which represents 10% of the global total.

In 2015, the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act was passed and required domestication in each state. Some states have laws and policies against FGM, however, for some reason, citizens are unaware of these laws. Also, enforcement of FGM laws is reportedly low. The system for reportage of harmful practices, either intended or unintended is uncoordinated, causing citizens distrust of the system. Despite the efforts of stakeholders to end FGM practices in Nigeria, the prevalence remains high. Contributing to the continued practice of FGM are a dearth of intervention studies; lack of coordinating agencies particularly for FGM; inadequate systems for law enforcement of FGM/C practice; lack of public awareness of FGM policies and laws such as the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act.

Civil Society Organizations have contributed immensely towards advocating against FGM practices, however, existing anti-FGM groups and CSOs are not strengthened towards advocating for policy implementations and enforcement in Nigeria. Another critical stakeholder imperative to bringing to the fore the end of FGM is the media. Despite the vast presence of media, it has been argued that the reportage of FGM/C cases has been extremely low.

The economic benefits of ending FGM is centered on reducing the cost of treatment for damages caused during the mutilation and after the mutilation process. Considering the low enrollment of citizens on health insurance schemes, it is almost certain that accessing healthcare for the treatment of FGM-related complications may lead an individual and her family into a catastrophic out-of-pocket payment which may plunge them below the poverty line. Furthermore, Sustainable Development Goal 5 which aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, strongly advocates ending all forms of violence against women and girls.

Women and girls should have the right to make decisions over their bodies. Due to certain cultural norms, especially in Southwest Nigeria, some girls and even worse, pregnant women are mutilated. In some societies, it is believed that FGM/C reduces a woman’s libido, thereby curbing extramarital affairs. By ending FGM, especially through policies and law enforcement, women will have the right to make decisions over what happens to their bodies, regardless of age-long cultural or family practice.

Over the years, HACEY Health Initiative has implemented projects centered on the health and productivity of women and girls in Nigeria. In 2017, the Organization launched the EndFGM Initiative, an innovative project that targeted 16 communities across three States in the Southern and Northern parts of Nigeria. The initiative which is known as the Stopcut project, employed the human-centered design approach to assist over 50 key community influencers and 150 women, youth groups and three media organisations across three States. The key activities of the project were; community mobilization, capacity building, awareness creation, dialogue sessions and Focus Group Discussions. HACEY’s programmes has seen young mothers becoming activists to protect their daughters, perpetrators giving up their trade to speak against the practice, uncircumcised ladies being accepted socially, circumcised ladies telling their stories as a form of activism and community leaders denouncing FGM.

In 2020, HACEY initiated the StopCut project in three of the States with the highest prevalence of FGM in Nigeria – Ekiti, Osun and Oyo States, with the aim to protect women and girls in the states from FGM by creating awareness on existing protective laws and policies, and promoting their effective implementation. The project also aims to reduce FGM practice through advocacy, capacity building, research and education strategies in communities. The Stopcut project has engaged and trained state and community key stakeholders to advocate for the enforcement of FGM laws and policies, created awareness on FGM and promoted increased reporting of FGM incidents. The project has trained 96 media personnel, engaged 274 traditional and community leaders in 72 Communities in Ekiti, Osun and Oyo States.

THISDAY spoke to the Gender and Gender Based Violence Specialist, The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Nigeria, Dr. Zubaida Abubakar, who stated that the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) revealed that the FGM prevalence in the country is on a downward trend and it is reported at 20% (down 5% points from the 2013 NDHS data) among women age 15-49.
She also noted that NDHS report further showed that FGM among girls is most common among girls whose mothers were cut (56 per cent), whose mothers have no education (24 per cent), and those from the poorest households (27 per cent).

UNFPA’s Role
UNFPA is the global lead for the Joint UNFPA – UNICEF programme on the elimination of FGM. It is a multi-country multi-million-dollar initiative supported by several donor countries. Nigeria joined the programme in 2013 working across five States that at the time were noted to have the highest prevalence of FGM.

She further explained that in addressing FGM, the UNFPA uses a multi-pronged approach which includes high level advocacy championed by the Federal Ministries of Health and Women Affairs, policy and guidelines formulation and dissemination such as the recently revised National Policy and Plan of Action for the Elimination of FGM in Nigeria and the National Protocol for the clinical management of the complications of FGM.

She stated that UNFPA also worked closely with NGOs and CSOs to mobilise multi-stakeholder community action for abandonment, build capacity for social, health and legal services for survivors and building the agency of girls and women as champions and advocates for abandonment, “this is done also through engaging religious and community leaders, men and boys as well women leaders in the community.”
She added that to address medicalisation, UNFPA has been engaging medical associations and their regulatory bodies to deter medical professionals from engaging in the practice, “and to categorically sensitise that FGM has no Health Benefits and is a harmful practice.”

The Role of NGOs
Abubakar lauded NGOs and CSOs for their work in raising awareness around the harmful effects of FGM and the need to eliminate the harmful practice in the country.
She espoused that UNFPA works closely with some of the NGOs as implementing partners as they are closer to the grass-root and can engage the communities effectively due to their understanding of the culture.
“For the joint programme, the coordination at the State level is under the chair of the State Ministries of Health and co-chaired by the State Ministries of Women Affairs. It would be beneficial for them to build coalitions and synergy with other actors in order to increase state-wide impact beyond what the joint programme supports,” Abubakar said.

FGM as a Social Stigma
UNFPA classifies FGM as a harmful practice because it deprives women and girls of their basic human rights including the right to health (including sexual and reproductive health) and right to bodily integrity.
Abubakar’s position on FGM is that it is carried out without the consent of the survivors and therefore denies them their right to bodily autonomy – choosing what they do with their bodies.

She argued that FGM is a form of gender inequality as the social norms that drive the practice are perpetuated to subjugate women and girls either to allegedly subdue promiscuity or to make them marriage eligible.

UNFPA Gender Specialist stated: “FGM also confers inheritance rights and is performed as part of the process of social integration and is associated with social significance for females as women can only achieve recognition and economic security through marriage and childbearing.
“Unfortunately, these cannot be achieved without the rite of passage into womanhood which occurs when a woman is cut. Most women therefore force their daughters to undergo FGM to protect them from being ostracized, shamed or beaten. Some other beliefs that perpetrate FGM include the narrative that women who have not been cut are promiscuous, unclean, unattractive, and will be unable to find a husband. Hence, studies have shown that FGM is perceived to promote hygiene, improve female attractiveness, enhance fertility and male sexual pleasure.

“Even after marriage, it is widely believed that uncut girls have the tendency to be unfaithful to their husbands. The acceptance of FGM by women may reflect the powerful influence of tradition and normalisation of the practice as a necessary and even a natural part of life. In South-East Nigeria, the practice of FGM is linked with respect; women who have undergone FGM are accorded respect and it is done to satisfy the community norms around respect. There are also many myths that perpetuate this practice that the joint programme is working to rectify through sensitisation and information sharing.

“Nigeria is a huge country and the people that perpetuate this act are deeply entrenched in the socio-cultural norms that make them believe this practice is acceptable. However, as far back as 2013, the federal government believed the eradication of FGM to be a harmful act and at that time commissioned the first National policy. Many States followed suit with State-grown laws against GBV and FGM. Since then, the government has also passed the VAPP 2015 Act and this specifically mentions FGM as a criminal act and lays out the penalty not only for those that commit the act, but also aid. As we are aware, many States have domesticated the VAPP Act into Law. As with GBV, what we now need is a stronger drive to implement the law and prosecute perpetrators. We also would like to see more commitment to not only have budget lines to address the practice (and other forms of GBV and harmful practices such as Child Marriage) but also for funding allocated to be released and used. This would augment the catalytic funding from the joint programme.”