Gender Violence in Sierra Leone
Female Genital Mutilation Makes a Comeback
Milton Margai's educational programs almost ended Sierra Leone's tradition of female genital mutilation but poverty and peer pressure have turned back the clock.
In Sierra Leone the practice of Female Genital Mutiliation (FMG) has become big business once again. Social pressure and economic decline have contributed to the resurgence of the dangerous and sometimes lethal procedure. The government of Sierra Leone and the World Health Organization are working to put a stop to FMG but their limited resources have yielded limited success. They must also contend with local practicioners who argue that it is part of their culture and women conditioned from childhood to uphold "the tradition".
The Mindset Regarding FMG in Sierra Leone
Fatu was an industrious 16-year-old girl who sold fresh fruit to support herself and her family. She couldn't afford to go to school and she was already a wife and mother. She worked hard and was able to put aside a little money. She proudly told anyone who asked that she was saving for the final stage of her "Bundu" initiation, the local term for FMG.
The fact that a young woman would willingly submit herself to the removal of all of her external genitalia may seem amazing to anyone with educated about the dangers of this practice. It's more amazing considering that FMG was almost completely eradicated in Fatu's native Sierra Leone by the middle of the last century. The awareness programs put in place by the country's first Prime Minister, Sir Milton Margai, led the majority of Sierra Leonean wome to abandon the practice.
But the failure of Sierra Leone's economy under the stewardship of Margai's successors meant that these programs were discontinued and FMG reared its ugly head once more.
Social Pressure
Today the procedure is big business in the world's poorest country. The practitioners are usually middle aged women who are regarded as community leaders. There is immense social pressure on young women who forego the practice who are called "unclean". These women are practically bullied in to FGM by their peers. Sento, a young teacher from Freetown, suffered when parents refused to send their children to the nursery school where she worked because she had not undergone FMG. For her FMG seemed to be the practical choice.
The Effects of FMG
In Sierra Leone FGM is performed under wretched conditions, in the absence of hygiene and anaesthesia. For sanitary reasons, the flesh is often removed with the keen edge of a shard of glass.
The effects of FGM are harrowing. Women who have been circumcised lose all sensitivity in their genitals and are unable to experience sexual pleasure for the rest of their lives. Shock, haemorrhaging and infection regularly lead to death.
The psychology behind this tragic phenomenon is not so different from that of Western women who choose cosmetic surgery. There is the same desire to meet social standards, albeit that FGM is often deadly.
Sadly, the resurgence of FGM is not peculiar to Sierra Leone. According to a report from the World Health Organization it estimated that over 100 million women in 28 African countries have been circumcised. Worse still a staggering 2 million more endure the procedure every year.
Fatu became one of them. She succeeded in saving enough money to undergo the final stage of her "Bundu". Among her peers it was regarded as something of an achievement and she was very much admired. Within a year of her initiation, Fatu fell pregnant with her second child. She was still suffering from the infection that had ensued from the FGM but she had no access to medical care. When Fatu went in to labour, she bled to death at the age of seventeen leaving her newborn baby without a mother.
What Can Be Done?
Poverty alleviation is the only way forward in order to stop female genital mutilation. Investing in education and alternative means of income will help people to turn away from the practice that is destroying countless young women and claiming the lives of hard working young mothers like Fatu.
Resources:
- Waris Dirie 'Desert Flower'
- Alice Walker, 'Possessing The Secret of Joy'
- World Health Organization (WHO)
- Female Genital Mutilation and Cosmetic Surgery: Regulating Non-Therapeutic Body Modification
