Even though Female Genital Mutilation, FGM, is recognised worldwide as a fundamental violation of the human rights of girls and women, communities in Nigeria have continued to perform the practice.
For these Nigerians, girls who are not circumcised tend to become promiscuous in adulthood. Cases abound in Nigeria where these victims are treated like outcasts. In some cases, these young girls are hurriedly taken away from their communities in a bid to save them from the knife of these traditionalists.
A case in point is Mrs Grace Nwakunor who recently ran away with her daughter, Onyinyinchi to prevent her from going under the knife. Grace’s story started when the husband’s family in Delta State attempted to forcefully take her little daughter for circumcision.
Grace had to escape with the help of her husband through the bushes at night. The trauma she went through made her run away with her daughter., Which nobody knows their whereabouts.
It was so traumatic for her and her daughter that has affected her emotionally.
Grace and her daughter are just one out of millions of Nigerian girls who have been forcefully circumcised despite the many complications associated with the act.
Today, Nigeria, due to its large population, has the highest absolute number of female genital mutilation (FGM) worldwide, accounting for about one-quarter of the estimated 115–130 million circumcised women in the world.
According to medical experts, the practice shows deep-rooted inequality between the sexes and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. They also argued that it is a violation of the rights of the children and a violation of a person’s right 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.
Sadly, like Onyinyinchi, these girls undergo the practice without their informed consent, and they are deprived of the opportunity to make independent decisions about their bodies.
UNICEF Enugu Field Officer, Mrs Maureen Zubie-Okolo had explained at a zonal media dialogue that female genital mutilation has no health benefits but is harmful to girls and women both physically and psychologically.
She said that the practice has no place in society and must be ended.
