Christian and Muslims leaders under the auspices of the Side By Side Movement for Gender Justice in Nigeria (SBSMJN) have urged the Federal Government to commence aggressive actions to stem Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the country.
They made the appeal Wednesday in Abuja at the briefing marking the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM in Nigeria.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Chairman North-west zone, Dr. Israel Akanji and a lecturer at the Bayero University Kano (BUK) Prof. Mustapha Hussain Ismail, who are the co-chairs of the movement, told newsmen that unlike the male circumcisions which have evidence in the Abrahamic covenant with God, there are no scriptural evidences for female circumcision.
They were accompanied by the Acting Executive Director of the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development Centre (Centre LSD), Mr. Monday Osasah and women leaders of CAN and FOMWAN among others.
“Female genital mutilation (FGM) which is practiced for a variety of cultural reasons and involves the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia is a practice having no health benefits to the victim but with well-documented evidences of harms. 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 purposes.
“The practice is mostly carried out by traditional circumcisers, who often play other central roles in communities, such as attending childbirths. In many settings, health care providers perform FGM due to the erroneous belief that the procedure is safer when medicalized. The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly urges health professionals not to perform such procedures. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women,” they said.
According to them, the practice reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women, as it is nearly always carried out on minors.
They said the practice also violates a person’s rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death.
“FGM includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women and the procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems during urinating, which later could result in cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths. More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been mutilated in about 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is concentrated, FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15,” they said.
They also listed immediate and later complications of FGM including hemorrhage, acute infection, bleeding of adjacent organs, violent pain resulting in serious shock while later complications include vicious scars, chronic infection, hematic complications and obstetric complications among others.
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