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| Female Genital Mutilation: a bleeding wound for over 140 million women worldwide |
 PRINTABLE VERSION |
The issue of FGM is more a symptom than a problem. Its causes are the beliefs and societal structure of the groups practising it. Therefore, before trying to stop people from practising FGM, we must understand why it happens in the first place.
In countries like Somalia, where continuous wars and starvation are part of everyday life, a woman can only survive by getting married. And no girl can get married without being mutilated, so the husband knows that she is a virgin, faithful to the society’s traditions. Therefore, parents consider it their duty to mutilate their daughters, because otherwise, they have no future. Similarly, parents in western countries send their children to college. In order to eliminate FGM, there must be change in the position of women in society. And the key to accomplishing that is education.
If education becomes widely available for girls, it means that many will gradually find other options outside their home. When opportunities outside marriage become available, it means it won’t be their only chance to survive. When this happens, the main reason for supporting FGM is devalued, and so most of its importance is lost. If girls and boys are educated sufficiently, when they become adults they will understand the ramifications of the practice. Because girls are mutilated very young, they do not know that the problems they experience later on are linked with FGM. A recent study has shown that while eighty percent of women with primary education support the practice, only fifty five percent of those with secondary education do, and the number decreases even more among women with tertiary schooling.
For education to become widely available, we need to convince governments to see it as an investment for women's future, both morally and financially. And the right people to do this are religious leaders and organizations within Africa, such as the Organization of the African Unity. These are the people to encourage and support educational development rather than international commissions, like the UN, or it will be regarded as a western invasion of the African culture. Only if it is their own people will Africans agree to work to improve their current systems.
People need to see it as a maturing modification of their culture. Change must come from within society because people have understood the dangers of the practice, and not because of external pressures.
Waris is one of the very few girls who has had a second chance in life, unlike her sister Halemo, whose dreams and hopes were circumcised along with their genitalia. They never had and will never have the opportunity to enjoy productive and fulfilling lives.
Women are the backbone of Africa. Imagine how much they could accomplish if they were not butchered as children, left maimed for the rest of their lives.
In Waris’ words: “Because we are all victims of our upbringing, cultural practices have continued unchanged for thousands of years. But the time has come to leave the old ways of suffering behind.”
Today, another 2000 girls are going to die from genital mutilation. Indeed, the time has come to leave the old ways of suffering behind.
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Charis Demetriou
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