Gender Sustainability: Female Genital Mutilation and the Case Study of Gambia
Name: Jorja Oladiran |Week: Term 2, Week 6| Theme: FGM & Sustainability
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a gender-based injustice performed across the globe and a continuing issue for the UN’s sustainability goals. FGM is the circumcision or cutting ritual of the external female genitalia, this ritual is performed from ages ranging from childbirth to puberty and beyond. There are 4 common types of cutting: partial/ symbolic cut, partial removal of the clitoris, partial/ complete of the labia and sewn closed genital. The procedure is permeant, it strips the women/ girl of sexual pleasure, defiles the privacy and is a clear violation of their human rights. Although it is a cultural practice, FGM proves to have no medical benefit. Its innate nature is inequitable to young girls and which goes against the goals of gender equality and the empowerment of women, which is why organisations like the UN advocate for the education of FGM and breaking dated traditions.
The UN’s sustainable development goals aim to “eliminate all harmful practices, such as … female genital mutilation by 2030.”[1] This can only be done through advocation against it, education and providing resources to help those who have gone through FGM. The ritual effects “at least 200 million women and girls across 30 countries,” it is a rampant and historic tradition which continues to victimise young girls, without their consent.[2] FGM harms women physically and psychologically. With no-health benefits, “complications such as severe pain, shock, excessive bleeding, infections, and difficulty in passing urine, as well as long-term consequences for sexual and reproduction health and mental health,” legitimise the contention with continuing to practice FGM.[3] The ritual comes with a lot of psychological confusion, feelings of shame and betrayal can develop especially when the women/ girls leaves her old and learns that in e.g. western culture their condition is not the norm. Many women unaware of the long-term effects of FGM and it is only until they reach the point of sex or motherhood does the severity of the issue arise.
FGM is practiced across different religions and there is an assumed obligation amongst many communities that performing FGM is fulfilling ‘religious duties.’ But in no religious doctrine does it actually prescribe the notion of FGM. ‘Activist Jaha Dukureh campaigned against FGM in Gambia, where under the national religion of Islam, FGM was a common practice.’[1] Before 2015, Gambia was a nation of many who believed FGM was Sunna (the Islamic word for ‘the way of god.’) Dukureh was a victim of FGM as a young girl, and it was only when she moved to America that she realised she was different from her other female friends. She set a mission in Gambia and further dispel the misconceptions that FGM was a sustainable nor religious obligation to perform. Campaigning for gender rights and education within schools, Dukureh was inspired by other Western nations like the UK, who had made FGM part of the school curriculums. Through her determination and advocation for the clear distinction in the Gambian doctrine (including the religious presumptions) Dukureh was able to encourage the president of Gambia to introduce a legal ban on FGM in November 2015. Her work was a major triumph for Gambia but more holistically, sustainability of gender rights was successfully advocated for.
Implementation in the law and in the education, system is the first step for FGM sustainable development. However, the ritual will continue to exist in the domesticised sphere if the intrinsic problems are not addressed across cultures. “Resources need to be provided to the ground directly, services need to be made for survivors and education within communities so that they know the harmful effects of FGM,” must continue to be discussions.[2] The call for the abolition of FGM by 2030 can only truly be achieved through implementation and education. Educating old and future generations of the potential harms of FGM can help achieve gender sustainability.
Bibliography
[1] https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/
[2] https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/
[3] https://www.un.org/en/observances/female-genital-mutilation-day
[4] Jaha Dukureh, Finally girls matter: Why religious leaders are vital in the fight to end FGM, Published 22 March 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/society/blog/2016/mar/22/finally-girls-matter-why-religious-leaders-are-vital-in-the-fight-to-end-fgm
