FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION IN NIGERIA
Female genital mutilation (FGM) refers to the removal of some or all of a woman’s genitalia for cultural or other non-medical purposes. WHO (2008) defines it as “any treatments that entail partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia or any type of harm to them for social, cultural, or other non-medical reasons.” It typically occurs before a girl becomes 15, and it could constitute a form of violence against women as it is frequently performed without their knowledge or consent of potential complications (WHO, 2008).
Nigeria has the highest rate of female genital mutilation (FGM) and is home to the highest number of black people in the world. About a quarter of the 115–130 million circumcised women in the world live in Nigeria. Organization (WHO) as every practice that removes part or the entire external female genitalia or affects the female genital organs, regardless of the motivation. It is well known that girls and women in Nigeria have to follow strange traditional practices. Worldwide, girls and women are subjected to the destructive practice of FGM. FGM is commonly viewed as a violation of human rights, yet it is strongly established in cultural beliefs and practices that are being carried down through generations, making it difficult to eradicate. Population-wise, Nigeria has the most FGM incidences in the world.
Nigeria is home to 150 million people, and 52% of those people are women. In Nigeria, 77% of adult women in the south-south have had FGM, followed by 68% in the southeast and 65% in the southwest. FGM is less common in the north, but it tends to be done in a more extreme way there. Nigeria has the most FGM cases in the world in terms of population.
FGM is globally known as an infringement of girls’ and women’s human rights. It is an extreme kind of prejudice against women that demonstrates innate gender inequality. It breaches children’s rights and a person’s right to security, health, and physical integrity, as well as their right to be free from torture and inhuman, cruel, or humiliating treatment, and their right to life if the surgery results in death. In addition, girls are frequently forced to the technique without their permission, depriving them of the right to make independent choices regarding their bodies.
Consequences of FGM on Health
100–140 million girls and women around the world are currently experiencing the impacts of female genital mutilation (FGM). Each year, around 3 million African girls seem to be at jeopardy of female genital mutilation (FGM). Worldwide, the prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) has decreased very slightly, despite greater worldwide and minimal national attention.
There are no positive health effects of the surgery for women and girls. Consequences of female genital mutilation (FGM) include shock from infection, pain and haemorrhage, severe urinary retention after such trauma, damage to the urethra or anus in the victim’s struggle during the surgery, which, in many cases, dictates the length of the operation. Anorgasmia, dysmenorrhea, retention cysts, vulvar adhesions, hematomas, and chronic pelvic infections are all possible complications of anorgasmia. Dermoid cysts and keloids at the site of implantation and erectile dysfunction are two additional risks.
Perineal lacerations and the mandatory need for an episiotomy in infibulated patients are examples of obstetric complications. Defibulation with bleeding, urethral and bladder injuries, rectum injuries, and purperial sepsis are further problems. There is evidence that FGM increases the risk of complications during labour and delivery, including the length of time it takes to reach the second stage of labour, the development of a fistula, and the mortality rate of new-borns. The most serious complication of FGM is the psychological and mental agony it causes, as the problem does not manifest externally for help to be offered.
In Nigeria, female genital mutilation ensues from several factors. Some sociocultural factors have been found to be responsible for this avoidable behaviour. FGM is still a big part of life in Nigeria, where grandmothers, mothers, women, opinion leaders, men, and people of all ages make important decisions. FGM is a very bad form of sex-based discrimination. The practice, which is often used to control women’s sexuality, is closely linked to whether a girl can get married. Mothers put their daughters through the practice because they didn’t want them to be beat up, shunned, or shamed. FGM used to be the job of traditional birth attendants for traditional leaders or other well-known people in the community. However, the industry has “medicalized,” attracting contemporary healthcare professionals and community health providers. FGM should not be institutional and should not be performed by any health practitioner anywhere, such as in hospitals or at home, according to the WHO, which is strongly opposed to this medicalization (Yaya, & Ghose, 2018).
Every society needs tradition and culture because they influence how people think and behave. However, some cultural practices and customs, such as female genital mutilation (FGM), should be abandoned since they are detrimental (Okeke, Anyaehie, & Ezenyeaku, C, 2012)
FGM is a procedure that has a lengthy history and a negative reputation. Nigeria needs laws that will help educate people about health and give women more freedom. With a collective decision to stop the practice, “community-led action” is therefore crucial to the process of social change in the community. With women’s education and social status getting better and more people knowing about the problems that can come from FGM, most women who have had it do not like it and very few are willing to let their daughters have it done. The more a woman is informed, educated, economically and socially active, the greater her ability to identify and comprehend the hazards of damaging procedures such as FGM. She views the surgery as needless and refuses to consent to it or allow her daughter to have it (Okeke, Anyaehie & Ezenyeaku, 2012)
Most of the time, FGM is caused by sociocultural factors. It also affects how people live and act. Many people keep doing FGM because it is a social norm that was taught to them by their mothers and grandmothers. If they try to stop, they face pressure from society and the risk of being left alone. Kelly (2006) says that Maria Gabriella De Vita of UNICEF said, “Female genital mutilation or cutting may be seen as a social norm that is kept up by an unwritten system of rewards and punishments.”
FGM gives people a sense of belonging to their tribe, especially in a country with many tribes like Nigeria, where different tribes do FGM for different reasons and at different times. This is like how the Abangussi tribe of Kenya thought circumcision made them better than the tribes around them that didn’t do it. FGM is an important part of girls’ socialization because it teaches them what it means to be a woman in their tribe. Usually, celebrations follow. Several ethnic groups which do FGM around puberty or menarche see it as a “transition to adulthood” from asexual childhood to associated with sexual maturity, with novel roles and obligations like marriage and childbirth. As a “fertility rite,” FGM is done to Uhrobos and Ketu-Yoruba girls right before they get married.
FGM is often very traumatic for the people who have gone through it. Traditional circumcisers usually use tools that aren’t very clean or sterile, like razor blades, broken pieces of glass, and scissors. People have said that they were held down and cut without any kind of anaesthesia, and that their legs and thighs were tied for a long time to make sure the wound healed properly. (Yaya & Ghose, 2018). Researchers have also found that self-esteem problems can sometimes show up as a “feeling of incompleteness.” The young woman lives in perpetual dread of the operation, and after the ceremony, she dreads sexual activity due to anticipated agony. Due to problems induced by FGM, she dreads delivery. These girls may not complain, but they may become icy and distant.
Recommendation
It is important to have a strategy that includes making laws, professional health care organizations, empowering women in society, and educating the public at all levels about the risks and wrongness of FGM. The study concludes that FGM is common in Nigeria, with more and more women saying they have been through it. There were big differences in how common FGM was based on where people lived and how much money they had. More research should be done to find out the social and cultural reasons why women support or oppose FGM. This could help come up with ways to convince people and families to stop doing it. At the level of policy, there is an immediate need to enhance the institutional strategy to restrict the involvement of practitioners, who are mostly responsible for the proliferation and trivialization of FGM. To stop this harmful practice from going on, a multi-strategy approach based on human rights should be put in place.
References
World Health Organization (1998) Female Genital Mutilation: An overview. Geneva: World Health Organization
World Health Organization (2008) Female genital mutilation. Fact sheet No. 241; June 2000. Retrieved 25th October, 2022, from: http://www.who. int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/.
Okeke, T., Anyaehie, U., & Ezenyeaku, C. (2012). An overview of female genital mutilation in Nigeria. Annals of medical and health sciences research, 2(1), 70-73.
Mandara, M. U. (2004). Female genital mutilation in Nigeria. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics, 84(3), 291-298.
Kolawole, A. O. D., & Anke, V. K. (2010). A review of determinants of female genital mutilation in Nigeria‖. Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences, 1(11), 510-15.
Yaya, S., & Ghose, B. (2018). Female genital mutilation in Nigeria: a persisting challenge for women’s rights. Social Sciences, 7(12), 244.
