Female Genital Mutilation and Cutting(FGM/C) is a harmful practice on girls and women which causes irreparable sexual, reproductive and psychological harm.​ FGM/C is recognized internationally as a violation of the fundamental human rights of girls and women. It constitutes an act of violence and extreme discrimination against women and girls[1]. ​This practice leaves victims feeling scared, psychologically scarred and distressed. FGM/C sustains and reflects deep rooted inequality between the sexes, constitutes a barrier to female civic participation and social inclusion and therefore, leads to inequitable socio- economic growth and prosperity​. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. 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.

The WHO estimates that an alarming 200 million girls or women  alive today have undergone FGM, while an estimated 3 million girls are at risk annually. Unfortunately, the majority of these girls will be cut before the age of 15 years. Nigeria due to its population has the highest global FGM/C prevalence with an estimated 20 million women of reproductive age as victims [2]. According to a WHO study, 2.8 million 15 year-old girls in 6 African countries will lose approximately 130,000 years of life annually as a result of obstetric hemorrhage- one of the major complications of FGM/C practice. The same study shows that the Perinatal mortality rate was 15%, 32% and 55% respectively higher in children born to mothers with type 1, 2 and 3 FGM/C than those without. Women with type 3 FGM/C had a 30% higher risk for delivery through Cesarean section than those without[3]. FGM/C victims are twice as likely to report a lack of sexual desire and have an Infertility rate of 30% with type 3 FGM/C[4].

A common factor influencing the continuation of FGM is the need for social acceptance and to avoid social stigmatization. FGM thus, carries a customary significance that can best be addressed by programmatic interventions fully involving members of communities that practice it [5]. Research shows that, if practicing communities themselves decide to abandon FGM, the practice can be eliminated very rapidly.

References

  1. United Nations, Convention on the Rights of the Child, CRC/C/GC/12.1 July 2009
  2. Epundu UU, Ilika AL, Ibeh CC, Nwabueze AS, Emelumadu OF, Nnebue CC. The Epidemiology of Female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria.- A Twelve Year Review Afrimedic Journal 2018; 6 (1): 1-10
  3. World Health Organization,Policy brief,Reproductive Health and Research, WHO study group on female genital mutilation and obstetric outcome:WHO collaborative prospective study in six African Countries. The Lancet 2006;367:1835-1841
  4. Odukogbe A-TA, Afolabi BB,Bello OO, Adeyanju AS. Female genital mutilation/cutting in Africa. Translational Andrology and Urology 6.2.(2017);138-148.PMC.Web.8 Sept.2018
  5. C. Coyne. R. Coyne. The Identity Economics of Female Genital Mutilation, Journal of Developing Areas, 2014, 48(2): 137-152.

Dr. Ihedioha Emmanuel is Public Health Physician and Epidemiologist. He is the Principal Investigator of the ongoing My Sister’s Keeper Project in Nigeria.