Eradicating FGM/FGC
Worldwide, about 130 million girls and young women have experienced female genital cutting (FGC), and an additional 2 million are at risk each year. FGC threatens the sexual and reproductive health of millions of girls in parts of Africa, Asia and some Arab States. It is also practiced in some immigrant communities in Europe and North America.
UNFPA respects and understands cultural differences and does not attempt to impose one value system over another. However, the organization’s attempts to eradicate FGC are based on the unshakable belief that the degree to which individuals are valued and respected influences their health and well-being.
"The day before our operation was due to take place, another girl was cut and she died because of the operation," said Zainab, now 22 years-old who tells her story of undergoing FGC at age 8. "We were so scared and didn’t want to suffer the same fate. But our parents told us it was an obligation, so we went.
"We fought back," she said. "We really thought we were going to die because of the pain. You have one woman holding your mouth so you won’t scream, two holding your chest and the other two holding your legs. After we were infibulated, we had rope tied across our legs so it was like we had to learn to walk again. We had to try to go to the toilet, if you couldn’t pass water in the next 10 days something was wrong. We were lucky, I suppose, we gradually recovered and didn’t die like the other girl. But the memory and the pain never really goes."
The effects of FGC vary on the type performed, the circumstances under which it is performed and general health condition of the girl/woman undergoing the procedure. Typically, non-medical personnel, including village elders, perform most procedures. Complications occur in all types of FGC, but are most frequent with infibulation, the most radical form of the procedure, which includes stitching together of the labia.
FGC has both immediate and long-term consequences to the health of women including, scar formation, damage to the urethra resulting in urinary incontinence, painful sexual intercourse and sexual dysfunction, severe pain, shock, tetanus or sepsis, fever, septicemia, menstrual disorders, recurrent bladder and urinary tract infection, prolonged and obstructed labor, infertility (as a consequence of earlier infections), and hemorrhage and infection can be of such magnitude as to cause death.
UNFPA supports a number of country-level programs to abolish FGC. Among the most successful are those that offer alternative safe rituals to serve as rites of passage. Another component of successful projects is the participation and support of local leaders, including religious leaders, who navigate existing norms, attitudes and social dynamics, as they try to change long-held beliefs and alter deep-rooted practices.
For example, in Uganda, a UNFPA-supported project met with success in tackling FGC by enlisting participation from the community. The Reproductive, Educative and Community Health Project (REACH), was carried out in partnership with the Sabiny Elders Association (a group whose mission is to promote the welfare of the Sabiny people and preserve their language and culture).
Previous efforts at discouraging FGC in Uganda had met with considerable resistance. The REACH project recognized the importance of involving local people was recognized from the start and was designed to eliminate the practice while reinforcing the cultural dignity of the community.
It is important that the elimination of FGC is not misinterpreted as a value judgment on a society or its culture. Moreover, providing alternative cultural roles and sources of income to those who were performing female genital cutting is essential. By the end of the REACH project, male youths and even many former practitioners spontaneously formed pressure groups to oppose it. An evaluation conducted 15 months after the project was launched, concluded that FGC had been reduced by 36 percent.
Support UNFPA sponsored projects that offer alternative safe rituals.
Related Links
Read Agnes Pareyio's story A Safe Haven for Girls
Traumatic Fistula