Female genital cutting (FGC) is a harmful practice involving the forcible removal of a girl’s genitals. In Africa alone, 30 million girls are at risk of being cut over the next decade, and up to 125 million women and girls worldwide are living with the effects of FGC. FGC serves no medical purpose and can lead to many severe physical, psychological and socio-economic impacts throughout life.
Female genital cutting is a global problem. There are 28 practising countries in Africa, with FGC also being documented in the Middle East, including Yemen and the United Arab Emirates, and parts of Asia including Indonesia, Malaysia and Kurdistan. FGC also takes place in diaspora communities, including the UK. In half of the practicing countries, the majority of girls are cut before 5 years of age. Elsewhere, cutting occurs between 5 and 14 years of age.
FGC is a social norm, where parental beliefs are shaped in part by the beliefs of those around them. A mother may have her child cut because she believes it is the right thing to do and something that her community expects. There is a social obligation to conform to the practice and refusal to conform can lead to social exclusion.
Female genital cutting ends when an entire community chooses to abandon the practice and collectively declares this in front of one another. Since FGC is held in place by the entire community, for one person to leave their daughter uncut will be difficult. Thus the entire community must be engaged in a decision to collectively abandon FGC. The existing social norm of cutting their daughters then shifts to a new social norm of not cutting their daughters.
Many similarities can be drawn between footbinding and FGC, and how the right conditions can motivate mass change. Because footbinding was a social convention that needed a shift in norms to change, the same strategy can be used in the abandonment of FGC. Given what we know about how footbinding ended within twenty years, we believe an end to FGC is an achievable aim.
As with footbinding, public declarations of abandonment are vital to solidify any commitment to ending FGC. When a group of people stand up and publicly declare that they will no longer practice FGC, they are held accountable by everyone. In addition, the abandoning community must invite its inter-marrying communities to witness the declaration. This is because the witnessing community must be aware that their sons will now marry uncut daughters. The communities witnessing the public declaration also begin to question their own practices.
This knowledge spreads through local, national and ultimately regional levels. Since communities are linked via their social networks, abandonment becomes quicker and easier as the movement gains momentum, also known as ‘organised diffusion’. Enabling elements such as legislation and health-care support must be in place to support this. It is essential that frontline staff know that abandonment of the practice is taking place and that it is being led by the communities themselves. That way, they too can play a part in wider efforts to end FGC.
An end to FGC supports a woman’s life choices that can lead to her economic and social empowerment. These include delaying the age at which a girl leaves school, the age at which she marries and the age that she has her first child, therefore enabling her greater access to jobs and financial opportunities.
At Orchid Project, a prime focus of our work is to communicate the hope and potential for an end to FGC, as well as partnering with organisations that deliver sustainable, proven solutions. We also advocate to ensure stakeholders resource and prioritise an end to FGC.
FGC programmes need to be non-directive and non-judgemental. The most effective programmes that foster an end to FGC are based on education and empowerment, allowing communities to understand more about their human rights and responsibilities whilst being able to talk openly about FGC. Orchid Project supports grassroots movements that are working to end FGC; our first partner is Senegal-based NGO Tostan. In West Africa, Tostan’s three year community empowerment programmes have supported over 6,500 communities to abandon the practice.
Opening up a conversation on the practice and its health and human rights impacts leads to self-directed questioning of practices and eventual abandonment. Work to end FGC must focus on education about human rights and responsibilities, hygiene and health, and dialogue at a community-wide level. When communities receive good, factual information about the practice and its harmful effects, this will encourage them to discuss why it is important to abandon this tradition and how it infringes upon the rights of women and girls.
FGC has gained more attention and interest at the local, regional, national, and international levels recently. We need to build on this momentum. There is a unique, historic opportunity to invest in a movement of change – FGC could end within this generation.
For further information on FGC or to support Orchid Project, visit: www.orchidproject.org
This article was originally published on Urban Times.
