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Niger villages say No to female genital mutilation: Ten villages in Niger have decided to end the pr
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Posted on January 13, 2010 at 06:31:05 PM by mb

Niger villages say No to female genital mutilation
Ten villages in Niger have decided to end the practice of female genital mutilation

2009



PRIORITIES IN CHILD SURVIVAL, EDUCATION AND PROTECTION

Denied for years, female genital mutilation/cutting is still practiced in Niger. The procedure is most common in regions bordering Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad and Nigeria.

"Cutting" or female genital mutilation, a harmful traditional practice, was long hidden in Niger. Itsexistence was first brought to light in 1986 in a medical student’s doctoral dissertation. According to the 2006 DHS-MICS1 survey, 2.2% of women aged 15-49 have been mutilated/cut, although that figure disguises ethnic and regional disparities. The most-affected areas and ethnic groups were identified by 2004 in surveys conducted by the UNICEF-supported Nigerien Committee for Combating Traditional Practices that Affect the Health of Mother and Child, an NGO known by its French acronym, CONIPRAT.

The most-affected areas are the Tillabery region near the border with Burkina Faso and Mali, and the Diffa region near the border with Chad and Nigeria. The most-affected ethnic groups are the Fulanis, the Gurmantches, the Shuwa and Ousta Arabs and the Tubus.

Of the various forms of FGM/C, two are commonly practiced in Niger: dangouria and clitoridectomy. The practice known as dangouria in the Hausa language or haabize in Zarma consists of cutting away the hymen of newborn girls. It is generally carried out by traditional barbers, known as wanzam. This form of mutilation involves two procedures performed at different stages of a girl’s life. The dangouria/haabize procedure is performed on newborn girls, usually within 10 days of birth when a small part of the hymen is visible outside the vulva, and involves cutting away the membrane with a traditional razor blade. The
second procedure is performed on girls who marry before their bodies have fully matured, usually when they are between nine and 15 years old. This involves making an incision in the vaginal opening to facilitate sexual intercourse.

The other form of FGM/C practiced in Niger is clitoridectomy, the simplest form of which involves cutting away the prepuce (skin covering the tip of the clitoris). The most commonly practiced form of clitoridectomy involves removing all or part of the clitoris along with the labia minora (the narrow ridges of tissue near the vaginal opening).

In Niger, FGM/C is usually performed on girls before they are fifteen years old, although this varies from region to region and depends on the local customs. For example, the Fulani ethnic group performs FGM/C on girls before they turn eight, while the Gurmantches wait until their
daughters are older and have them "circumcised" between the ages of 10 and 15. Unsterilized knives and razor blades, usually passed from one generation to the next, are often used for these operations.

Victims of FGM/C tend to suffer from longterm complications. These include sterility caused by chronic genital infections, painful menstruation, frigidity, constant irritability and anxiety, and difficult childbirth leading to vaginal tearing.

UNICEF IN ACTION

The practice of FGM/C is a major concern for UNICEF. These practices constitute a violation of basic human rights and are condemned by the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Since 1992, UNICEF has worked alongside all parties involved in the fight against traditional practices that are harmful to the health and
wellbeing of the child by providing technical and financial support. A fruitful partnership was formed with CONIPRAT to implement advocacy
and social mobilization interventions targeting FGM/C. The NGO carries out studies, awareness-raising interventions, training, advocacy and retraining for FGM/C practitioners to stimulate behavioural change in the communities concerned. Monitoring committees were set up to track FGM/C activities in the most remote villages.

Advocacy and social mobilization

interventions related to the fight against FGM/C have led to:

• The passing of a law banning FGM/C (2003). The law has been translated into all of Niger’s local languages for wider distribution, and judges and police officers have received training;

• The involvement of traditional and religious leaders – through their effective participation alongside technical staff in awareness-raising
campaigns and in television and radio debates where they present Islam’s position on the subject – as well as the involvement of young people, judges and social workers.

In 2003, the UN declared 6 February as the International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation. In Niger, “zero tolerance”
involves a combination of interventions at different levels (government, religious and traditional leaders, young people) that form a broader strategy to tackle violence against women and girls, and gender discrimination.

The intention is to accelerate the renunciation of harmful traditional practices in general and of FGM/C in particular.

Thanks to the work of UNICEF and its partners, the prevalence of FGM/C in Niger has fallen noticeably: from 5% in 1998 to 2.2% in 2006 among women aged 15-49. The drop is particularly significant among young women aged 15-19. Despite these encouraging results, much remains to be done to achieve the goal of zero tolerance of FGM/C by 2010.

Photo UNICEF Niger / Giacomo Pirozzi
1 Demographic and Health Survey/Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey

http://www.unicef.org/wcaro/WCARO_Niger_Factsheet-11.pdf


Turning former practitioners against female genital mutilation in Niger




© UNICEF Niger/2008/Onimus-Pfortner
Haissa, who has vowed to end female genital mutilation/cutting in her village, is herself a former practitioner of FGM/C.

By Joelle Onimus-Pfortner & Gaelle Bausson

NIAMEY, Niger, 28 May 2008 – Haissa’s life has forever changed. Her village has publicly vowed to end female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), asking practitioners to “put down the knife” and put an end to the practice.

Haissa, 45, who underwent cutting at the age of 7, began performing the procedure herself at the age of 10, inheriting the family trade. She estimates that she performed FGM/C on approximately 400 girls, several of whom died from complications.

According to UNICEF, some 70 million women and girls aged 15-27 in the Middle East and Africa have been victims of FGM/C. Many girls are traumatized by the experience and suffer in silence, most out of fear of being ostracized by their communities.

Geographic and ethnic disparities

The harmful consequences of FGM/C may include both deterioration in reproductive health and the psychological toll on the victim. The practice increases maternal and child mortality rates and increases the vulnerability of girls and women to HIV/AIDS.

According to UNICEF Niger, the rate of FGM/C among women aged 15 to 49 has decreased by more than half, from 5 per cent in 1998 to 2.2 per cent in 2006. These statistics, however, conceal great geographic and ethnic disparities: 65.9 per cent of Gourmantche women, 12.4 per cent of Peul women and 3.4 per cent of Arab women having been victims of FGM/C, while the regions of Tillabery, Diffa and Niamey carry the highest procedural rates.

The decrease in FGM/C is in part due to the passing of new legislation and the combination of several strategies at the community and national levels.

Positive social change

Since 1992, UNICEF has been working with the Nigerian Committee on Traditional Practices (CONIPRAT), a non-governmental organization, to tackle the problem of FGM/C in Niger.

A positive social change strategy, put in place in 2007 by CONIPRAT, aims to change social conventions through non-formal education providing community members with new knowledge and skills. The strategy also works to promote dialogues between women and men, and across generations. These activities have proven effective when used to enhance human rights.

The social change programme encourages communities to raise problems and define solutions on a variety of concerns. In order to stimulate lasting change, sensitive issues such as FGM/C must be addressed within the community.

‘Starting a new life’

As a result of these efforts by UNICEF and CONIPRAT, Haissa became aware of the harmful consequences of FGM/C and was convinced that the procedure had nothing to do with practicing her Islamic faith. She also learned that in 2003, a law was passed in Niger, with UNICEF’s support, to penalize the practice of FGM/C.

Most important, the UNICEF and CONIPRAT programme gave Haissa and other women practicing FGM/C the means to learn a new trade. They were offered training in gardening and each got a plot of land to subsidize their family’s needs.

“What convinced me to abandon the practice of FGM/C,” said Haissa, “is understanding the link between FGM and women’s health. I am now proud of starting a new life.”

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/niger_44262.html


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