We cannot allow ourselves to come into terms with FGM

SOME tribes in the country exercise female genital mutilation (FGM) for a strange reason, which is prevention of a disease known as ‘lawalawa’.

But others use this activity to show that a girl is mature and ready to get married.

There are many reasons behind this process which is being carried out on young girls between infancy and the age of 15, with the excuse of preserving traditions and customs, culture, cleanliness, protecting the honour of the family and to be accepted in society, especially when it comes to marriage.

Community Development Officer in Singida Region, Shukrani Mbago during an interview recently said in collaboration with Woman Wake Up (WOWAP), they have been working on a project which aims to educate residents of Mtinko Ward on the dangers of FGM.

WOWAP Coordinator, Nasra Suleiman said that the project which is being carried for a year starting from January has shown signs of success as many people now have started to question and abandon the outdated tradition.

The project is expected to be completed in December this year and aims to encourage the community to be part of the solution against FGM which is detrimental to their wellbeing.

The long history of female genital mutilation and its adverse effects have forced the government and other institutions to embark on massive education on prone areas to ensure that they understand the risk and eradicate female genital mutilation in the country for good.

Felix Maige, the Community Development Officer for Singida Rural District said they have been providing education to the most affected areas so as to make them decide on themselves not to engage on the activity.

He however said that it is hard to put an immediate stop to this culture, because the main driver of FGM in this country is the transition period as stipulated in traditions and customs of some tribes for a girl to become a full woman.

Also, there is a belief that FGM removes evil in the family.

He also said that economic reasons also contribute to the rate of FGM, as the elders in the tribes are paid money as a reward to ensure smooth operation of the tradition.

Experts say that female genital mutilation has serious effects on women and girls, including psychological effects such as mental stress caused by knowing that it is going to cause you trouble during marriage and during childbirth due to profuse bleeding which can lead to loss of life.

Other health effects are possibility of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases and the AIDS virus if the equipment used for FGM is not properly cleaned. FGM can also cause fistula disease.

Speaking to the locals, they say that FGM is embedded in their culture and has been there for centuries.

Halima Hussein, a resident of Mntinko, said that in their culture, female children have been circumcised so that they do not get leprosy.

But, currently he said, such actions have decreased due to education given to them by WOWAP.

Salehe Abdallah on the other hand says that women have been conducting FGM in secrecy.

“They mutilate them secretly without informing us, and they have been able to hide the secret because a man cannot inspect a female child,” he said.

He says that now there is a big change in the society in relation to FGM because even those who were facilitating the existence of such actions have abandoned the ritual.

“Education is the only way to stop it. It gives people power to change traditions with the support of older generations.

“Yes, education on the effects of female genital mutilation has contributed significantly to reduce it. We are here at Mnadani and witnessing a whirlwind of change. We have people who provide us with education and distribute leaflets. This helps a lot to change the attitudes of the people,” he said.

Despite the success, the people who perform the exercise have developed new methods to circumnavigate the control laid to help little girls who do not want to be circumcised.

“Now after finding out that they can’t do it to the older girls because of the by-laws and more understanding of the issue, they are now performing this brutal act on babies using nails and ashes.

“We are making great efforts to educate them even though some citizens have become big worshipers of traditions and customs that accompany FGM while devising new methods to continue this tradition,” said WOWAP coordinator Nasra Suleiman.

The organizer says it has been difficult to save many children from this cruelty due to these changes.

According to the history of the fight, the project to eradicate female genital mutilation which started in 2016 and implemented in different areas of Singida region is still a big challenge in communities that practice female genital mutilation.

According to the 2015/16 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey, 1 in 10 women here in Tanzania have been circumcised. The study also revealed that the rate of female and child mutilation increases with age; 19 percent of women aged 45 to 49 had been circumcised compared to 5 percent of women aged 15 to 19.

Similarly, the study noted that women with secondary education have a greater understanding of the effects of violence by 97 percent compared to women who did not reach that level of secondary education.

The report has also explained that girls who are born or brought up by a mother who is circumcised are also circumcised.

The statement also noted that 86 percent of women who have been circumcised do not agree with the practice and wish it would not exist at all.

There is a big problem of female genital mutilation in the country but the regions with the highest levels of female genital mutilation are Manyara, Dodoma, Arusha, Mara and Singida.

Before the implementation of laws against female genital mutilation, many communities were performing female genital mutilation for girls between 9-14 and women between the ages of 15-49.

For some communities, FGM is done during the months of June and December of each year when many families have sold their crops and thus have money to pay for it.

Last November, the government launched the National Strategy to eradicate female genital mutilation in the country.

During the inauguration, the Deputy Minister of Social Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Mwanaidi Ali Khamis strongly condemned the acts and asked those involved in such violence to stop immediately.

Launching the strategy, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Health, Department of Social Development, Dr. John Jingu said that traditions and customs to prepare girls towards adulthood can be done in society without performing FGM.

“There are things that are good for preparing young people but the wrong thing is FGM, we have a big job to do which is to change the thinking of the society and if possible find an alternative way to develop our traditions and customs,” said Dr Jingu.

One of the retired FGM performer from Singida Region, Hawa Hussein said the act is very dangerous because she has witnessed many harms including death through her hands, urging the community to stop such acts.

“I have assisted many mothers to give birth to more than 200 children as well as give them education to stop mutilating small children, I have witnessed bad things, they bleed a lot” said Hawa.