Female genital mutilation spikes in 10 years
The National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) indicates female genital mutilation in Nigeria has increased to 25%, up from 20% between 2003 and 2013, with the highest rise in the south west and south east. The prevalence of women undergoing FGM places among five African countries with the least prevalence but Nigeria’s population means more […]
The National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) indicates female genital mutilation in Nigeria has increased to 25%, up from 20% between 2003 and 2013, with the highest rise in the south west and south east.
The prevalence of women undergoing FGM places among five African countries with the least prevalence but Nigeria’s population means more of its women undergo cutting than in even countries as Somalia with 90% prevalence, according to the United Nations Population Fund.
Preliminary findings from a research by UNFPA found an average 61% of women in Osun, Ekiti, Oyo, Ebonyi, Imo and Lagos still undergoing cutting, said Dashe Dasogot, a UNFPA programme analyst.
The findings unveiled at a plenary session during the 9th international congress of the Society for Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Nigeria in Abuja show more than 70% of women undergo FGM in Osun and Ekiti compared with around 45% in Imo and Lagos.
UNFPA found reasons communities did FGM were to preserve a girl’s virginity until marriage and make her marriageable, to preserve values and rituals, for the misplaced myth that "normal female genitals are unattractive or that the clitoris contains powers strong enough to cause harm to a man’s reproductive organ or damage to a baby during childbirth."
Nkeiru Igbokwe, a gender specialist with UNFPA, said, "FGM is a direct contributor to fistula and the incidence of maternal mortality in Nigeria."
"UNFPA believes FGM is a form of gender-based violence directed at women and girls because of their gender, and also done with an agenda to dominate, subordinate and be made to feel inferior and incomplete."
The agency is pushing for stronger legislation that will not tolerate FGM and potentially end the practice.
Uwem Esiet, director of Lagos-based Action Health Incorporated, said ending FGM would require a "mixed method" approach in light of communities not fully aware of the magnitude of the problem.
He said education should target young people, religious leaders, traditional leaders who are increasingly taking kingships younger and are more literate, as well as communities which have not been seriously engaged.