Amid the horrors surrounding female genital mutilation (FGM) there is
a quiet revolution, which experts hope could lead to the eradication of
the practice.
Thousands of rural communities across Africa, which have practiced
FGM for centuries, are starting to abandon the tradition in response to
grass-roots education programmes. Analysts are even daring to talk of
eradication within two generations – something that was unimaginable
even five years ago.
Another 2,000 communities in countries including Sudan, Somalia and Egypt rejected the practice in 2011.
FGM
is a harmful social convention in which part, or all, of a girl's
external genitals are removed. Each year around three million girls –
8,000 a day – face FGM. An estimated 130 million girls and women are
living with painful complications.
FGM occurs within 28 African
countries, but also the Middle East, in Yemen, Oman and UAE, and parts
of Asia including Malaysia. Girls are generally aged between five and
11; most girls are cut without anaesthetic using an unsterilised blade.
Tostan,
a community-based human rights organisation, which originates in
Senegal, has an FGM abandonment success rate of 77 per cent and is
working in eight other African countries. The first community rejected
the practice in 1997.
Traditionally, an uncut girl is considered
unsuitable for marriage and maybe rejected by her community. This is why
the community-based approach used by the NGO Tostan has succeeded where
many others have failed. It involves whole communities, including the
men, in rejecting the practice.
Julia Lalla-Maharajh, founder of
UK charity Orchid, which supports Tostan, said: "The exponential rise in
communities rejecting FGM means we can start to think about eradication
in our lifetime. In 1899, 94 per cent of Chinese girls had their feet
bound; by 1919 this was down to zero.
"We know that Tostan's approach works, so it is now a matter of resources."
Latest
figures from the UN show that 8,000 communities have abandoned both FGM
and forced marriage. This includes 5,315 in Senegal, 670 in Sudan, 600
in Guinea, and 92 in Djibouti.
In 2008, the UNFPA, the United
Nations Fund for Population Activities, and UNICEF, the UN children's
fund, asked members to donate $40m (£25.3m) to fund an initiative called
Acceleration of the Abandonment of FGM. It has received only half of
the money so far.
The Minister for International Development,
Stephen O'Brien, witnessed first-hand the impact of FGM during a recent
visit to Senegal. The UK currently funds projects in Senegal and Kenya.
"Tostan's success has shown the world what can be done, and gives us
confidence that even behaviour so deeply embedded in culture can be
changed. It means the DfID is looking a lot more to help stamp out this
millennia-old practise... and part of that will be supporting research
to see how we can scale up what Tostan does without losing its community
essence."
In the most extreme form of FGM, the entire external
genitals are cut away. The wound left will be sewn up, with only a tiny
hole left for menstrual blood and urine. Around the time of her wedding,
a young woman will be cut open, just enough for penetrative sex. She is
also further cut to give birth, then re-sewn.
IN NUMBERS
62%: Amount of 15 to 19-year-olds subjected to FGM in Ethiopia, compared to an 81 per cent rate among 35 to 39-year-olds.
140m: Estimated number of women globally subjected to FGM
5,315: The number of villages in Senegal that were known to use FGM – that have signed public declarations abandoning it.
17: African countries to pass laws banning practice