DAY 19 OF THE 30 DAYS CHILD ABUSE AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
In commemoration of the World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse – November 19
Brought to you by the Centre for Total Child Development (CTCD)

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION AS A FORM OF CHILD ABUSE

What is female genital mutilation?

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a procedure performed on a woman or girl to alter or injure her Instruments for non-medical reasons. It most often involves the partial or total removal of her external Instruments. FGM is a violation of girls’ and women’s fundamental human rights. It is a form of child abuse against the girl child.

Why is it practiced?

In many of the countries where FGM is performed, it is a deeply entrenched social norm rooted in gender inequality where violence against girls and women is socially acceptable. The reasons behind the practice vary. In some cases, it is seen as a rite of passage into womanhood, while others see it as a way to suppress a woman’s sexuality. Many communities practice genital mutilation in the belief that it will ensure a girl's future marriage or family honour. Some associate it with religious beliefs, although no religious scriptures require it.

Why is female genital mutilation a risk for girls and women?

FGM has no health benefits and often leads to long-term physical and psychological consequences. Medical complications can include severe pain, prolonged bleeding, infection, infertility and even death. It can also lead to increased risk of HIV transmission. Women who have undergone genital mutilation can experience complications during childbirth, including postpartum haemorrhage, stillbirth and early neonatal death. Psychological impacts can range from a girl losing trust in her caregivers to longer-term feelings of anxiety and depression as a woman.

How prevalent is female genital mutilation?

While the exact number of girls and women worldwide who have undergone FGM remains unknown, at least 200 million girls and women aged 15–49 from 31 countries have been subjected to the practice.
There has been significant progress made in eliminating the practice in the past 30 years. Young girls in many countries today are at much lower risk of being subjected to FGM than their mothers and grandmothers were in the past.

However, progress is not universal or fast enough. In some countries, the practice remains as common today as it was three decades ago. Over 90 per cent of women and girls in Guinea and Somalia undergo some form of genital mutilation or cutting. Progress to end FGM needs to be at least 10 times faster if the practice is to be eliminated by 2030.

FGM is widespread in Nigeria. Some sociocultural determinants have been identified as supporting this avoidable practice. FGM is still deeply entrenched in the Nigerian society where critical decision makers are grandmothers, mothers, women, opinion leaders, men and age groups. FGM is an extreme example of discrimination based on sex. Often used as a way to control women's sexuality, the practice is closely associated with girls’ marriageability. Mothers chose to subject their daughters to the practice to protect them from being ostracized, beaten, shunned, or disgraced. FGM was traditionally the specialization of traditional leaders’ traditional birth attendants or members of the community known for the trade. There is, however, the phenomenon of “medicalization” which has introduced modern health practitioners and community health workers into the trade. The WHO is strongly against this medicalization and has advised that neither FGM must be institutionalized nor should any form of FGM be performed by any health professional in any setting, including hospitals or in the home setting.

How is the practice evolving?
In many countries, FGM is increasingly carried out by trained health care professionals – in violation of the Hippocratic Oath to “do no harm”. Around 1 in 3 adolescent girls (15-19 years) who have undergone FGM were cut by health personnel. Medicalizing the practice does not make it safer, as it still removes and damages healthy and normal tissue and interferes with the natural functions of girls’ and women’s bodies.

In some communities, the practice has been driven underground rather than ended, leading to girls being subjected to cutting at younger ages amidst greater secrecy. Opposition to the practice is building though. In countries affected by FGM, 7 in 10 girls and women think the practice should end. In the last two decades, the proportion of girls and women in these countries who want the practice to stop has doubled.

Negative effect of female genital mutilation

The harm FGM causes to girls’ and women’s health is manifold.

1. FGM is a serious injury that can be deadly: When girls are cut, they face the immediate risk of haemorrhage, shock, serious injury, a range of infections – and even death, when haemorrhage or infection are especially severe.

2. FGM performed by medical practitioners is never safe or beneficial: In some places, FGM may be performed by health care providers – community health workers, midwives, nurses or doctors. It may even be offered to new parents as part of a standard package of care for newborn girls. Medicalized FGM may or may not ensure a sterile environment or use of anaesthetic. That does not make it safe or beneficial for girls, however. It remains a grievous injury with a host of serious short- and long-term health risks – and no medical justification.

3. FGM can cause a lifetime of serious health problems and pain: Girls and women who undergo FGM often experience long-term health consequences including scarring, cysts, abcesses and other tissue damage, infertility, and increased susceptibility to infections. They may experience difficulty and pain when they menstruate, urinate or have sexual intercourse. Women who have undergone infibulation – where the labia are cut and sewn together to drastically narrow the vaginal opening – have to be cut open again to enable sexual intercourse and childbirth. And some who experience urinary retention, a common side effect of infibulation, have likened the excruciating pain they feel every time they urinate to the feeling of salt being rubbed into an open wound.

4. FGM can cause life-threatening childbirth complications: FGM can cause serious and even life-threatening complications during childbirth. Scar tissue may not stretch enough to accommodate a newborn, making delivery even more painful than is usual, and making it more likely that the woman will need a Caesarean section or other emergency interventions. The risk of prolonged, obstructed labour is heightened for women who have undergone FGM. Without timely medical intervention, obstructed labour can cause debilitating obstetric fistula and also puts mother and baby at risk of dying. Women who experienced infibulation – whose scars had to be cut open to enable sexual intercourse, and now again for them to give birth – face the greatest risks of prolonged and obstructed labour.

5. FGM can have lasting consequences for girls’ and women’s mental health: The psychological impact of FGM can be devastating and long-lasting. Girls may feel deeply betrayed by the parents who insisted they be subjected to FGM. And over the long term, FGM can leave serious psychological scars. Girls and women who experienced it may suffer anxiety, depression, memory loss, sleep disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

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If you know any child that is going through any form of child abuse please help the child to get help by reporting the abuse to the appropriate authority. CHILD ABUSE is all forms of physical and/or emotional maltreatment, sexual abuse, neglect, commercial or other exploitation of a child resulting in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, survival, development or dignity.

In all actions concerning the child, his or her best interest and well-being must be given paramount consideration.

The use of a child for the purpose of begging for alms, prostitution, domestic or sexual labour, as a slave or practices similar to slavery, forced or compulsory labour or for any purpose that deprives the child of the opportunity to attend and remain in school is a crime and it attracts imprisonment for a term of 10 years.

Employing any person under 18 years as domestic help outside his home or family environment is a crime that attracts 5 years imprisonment.

Anybody who has sexual intercourse with a child less than 18 years will be convicted to imprisonment for life.

Exposing or involving a child in the use of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances is an offence liable to life imprisonment.

Every form of child abuse is a serious offence that is punishable by the law. Every child has the right to be free from every form of abuse.

Report any cases of child abuse to the Nigerian Police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), your state Ministry of Women and Children Affairs or any NGO (Non-governmental Organisation) that advocates for the rights of children. If you notice any form of child abuse and you do not report, you are as guilty as the person committing the crime. Let’s join our hands to make the world a better place for children to live and grow.

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The Centre for Total Child Development, Ibadan cordially invites you to her 2021 ANNUAL CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION CONFERENCE and the Child Development in Nigeria Merit Award

THEME: Protecting Children, Promoting Healthy Families and Preserving Communities

FEATURES: Plenary Sessions | Workshops | Skill Seminars | Walk Against Child Abuse | Inter-School Child Abuse Awareness Competition | Award Presentations & Prize Giving

DATE: 19th November, 2021

VENUE: Oyesina Hall, Oke Bola, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

TIME: 9.00am prompt

PARTICIPANT: Students in secondary schools, voluntary organisations, religious institutions and orphanage homes, teachers, parents, children workers, and other stakeholders

ATTENDANCE: Attendance is FREE but registration is a MUST. To register please call/sms/whatsapp: 08180495451 or send email to emailtotalchild@gmail.com

SPONSORS & VOLUNTEERS ARE WELCOME

If you are interested in what we do, you can get involved in 3 ways:
1. Volunteer Partner: Join our vibrant team of volunteers to administer support to the children and young people coming for the Conference.
2. Resource Partner: Donate academic materials, products and other gift items to be given freely to the children and young people coming for the conference. You can also donate materials, equipment and facilities to support our cause.
3. Financial Partner: Donate fund to help us execute this Conference

Special thanks to those supporting us:
* In Service of Humanity Foundation, Lagos - @isohfoundation
* Onus Communications, Ibadan - @onuscommunications

For more information please contact:

CENTRE FOR TOTAL CHILD DEVELOPMENT
18, Anfani Road, Off Ring Road, Challenge, Ibadan
www.facebook.com/totalchilddev
www.instagram.com/totalchildev
Tel: 08180495451; 08101809463