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Slowly Winning Fight Against FGM in Northern Senegal
By Koffigan E. Adigbli
PODOR, Senegal, Nov 29, 2010 (IPS) - The harm done by female genital mutilation is still enormous
in Podor, a city in the north of Senegal, say officials at the
local hospital. While the practice is declining slightly, some
religious leaders in the region still support it.
On Oct. 3, religious leaders from 60 of the 300 villages in
the district approved a declaration to abandon genital
mutilation and early and forced marriage. But other clerics
have spoken out against the declaration, defending both
practices as an integral part of local traditions.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) has been forbidden by law in
Senegal since 1999, but the practice has continued briskly
in Podor, despite campaigns by NGOs discouraging it.
The U.S.-based NGO Tostan (the name means "breakthrough" in
Wolof) encourages women and marabouts in Podor to give up
excision and forced marriage. According to its regional
coordinator, Abdoulaye Kandé, to speak against FGM is not
the same as speaking against Islam or trying to introduce
social norms contrary to the customs of the region.
"Between now and 2015, the Senegalese government has set
itself the objective of making the practice of excision a
distant memory for the communities who still subscribe to
it. Our organisation has to collaborate with the authorities
to effectively end FGM and forced and early marriage. We
will continue to raise awareness of the communities on the
harm of these practices," he said.
But Amadou Ba, a sociologist at the Gaston Berger University
in Saint-Louis, a city not far from Podor, says this
practice cannot be eliminated in a day and one must first
make the merits of ending it clear to local opinion leaders
without frustrating anyone.
"To sensitise the masses or a group of people will have no
effect. FGM, early and forced marriage are etched into the
lives of the communities of Podor," says Ba.
"How else can one understand that a young girl who has not
been cut is excluded from a group of women? She is not
considered a woman. Therefore it's preferable that
organisations fighting against FGM put in place other
communication strategies and approaches to address the
practice of excision."
According to certain religious leaders in the region, to
fail to practice excision and early marriage is against the
precepts of Islam. Thierno Hamath Mbodj, the imam of a
mosque in another town in the area, Diattar, says that Islam
has never forbidden the practice of excision or early
marriage of young girls.
"To cut a girl is fine, and strongly recommended by Islam.
These practices have existed for a long time and never had a
negative impact," he said.
"No one can forbid us to do what Islam authorises. We will
continue to cut our girls and we'll give them away in
marriage at the right time."
But Gamaji Saré, another imam from Podor, doesn't share this
view. "Some say that it's not mandatory, others the
opposite. Religious leaders must meet to agree on abandoning
the practice, because everyone knows it is forbidden by the
law. Even Islam doesn't authorise it, it's more a part of
our tradition."
Hawa Abdoul Bâ, a member of the Podor Community Management
Committee, says that women are afraid not to excise their
girls. "According to what we know, a woman who is not cut is
difficult to satisfy sexually. That's why one must take a
daughter to the old lady to cut the clitoris so she can
control her sexuality until she's married," she said.
But Aminata Ba Diallo, a former FGM practitioner from Podor,
said that parents no longer take their daughters to have
them cut. "I was speaking with a friend who is still
cutting. She complained that parents no longer bring their
daughters. In my neighbourhood, Somna, from January until
now, only 12 girls were cut and their parents are being
threatened by the authorities. The practice is shrinking."
According to health officials in Podor, the side effects of
female genital mutilation that they are seeing are enormous.
Aside from the removal of the clitoris and the minor lips of
the vagina, midwife Fatou Diaw Sène lists cases of sexual
dysfunction, tetanus, fistula and difficult childbirth as
frequent experiences amongst mutilated women.
Dr Maodo Malick Diop, the chief doctor of the Podor health
district, explains that FGM makes birth difficult because of
the narrowing of the vulvo-genital area.
"The minor lips of the female genitals play a large role in
childbirth. They are elastic and open to allow the head of
the baby to pass through. With excision, they lose this
elasticity. Complications linked to excisions frequently
force us to resort to caesarean sections," he told IPS.
The risk of repeated caesareans, according to Diop, has
often led women to have tubal ligations done to avoid future
pregnancy and protect their health.
In Podor, he said, seven of ten women who come to give birth
have undergone genital mutilation.
"Excision is a practice to be condemned," he said.
(END)
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