Somali girl dies after undergoing ‘female genital mutilation.’ What does that mean?
It’s been 28 days since Deeqa Dahir Nur, a 10-year-old girl from Somalia, died of blood loss after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM). Media coverage of Nur’s death has grabbed international attention and spurred an unprecedented response from the Somalian government; according to a statement by the country’s Attorney General, those responsible for Nur’s death will be prosecuted. This could be the first FGM prosecution in Somalian history.
In our explainer, find out what is FGM, why did Nur die, and what can we do about it?
What is FGM, and why is it happening?
FGM is a harmful practice that intentionally alters or causes injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. There are no health benefits to FGM.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes four major types of FGM, three of which involve partial to total removal of the clitoris, labia minora or labia majora. Type 4 encompasses an array of harmful procedures to the female genitalia such as pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing.
FGM is internationally recognized as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. FGM was officially recognized as a form of violence against women in the 1993 Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women; it denies women and girls their right to health, bodily integrity and right to life, when the procedure results in death, like it did for Nur.
Ultimately, the practice is rooted in inequality between the sexes and discrimination against women and girls. According to research by the WHO, the most commonly cited reasons for practicing FGM include the social pressure to conform to what others do and have been doing, beliefs that being cut increases marriageability, and misconceptions such as FGM is a religious practice.
Nur’s case is ensnared in several of these factors. Her father, Dahir Nur, although distraught by his daughter’s death, actually defended the practice, saying that, “The people in the area are content with [FGM]…it’s a culture in the country we live in.”
Where is FGM most prevalent?
Globally, at least 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone some form of female genital mutilation. While FGM is practiced in many regions of the world, large-scale representative surveys show that the practice is most concentrated in African countries from the Atlantic coast to the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, and some countries in Asia. However, prevalence varies widely across these regions and also within each country.
In Somalia, where Nur was from, FGM is nearly universal. An estimated 98 per cent of women in Somalia have undergone FGM, according to the most recent data available. It’s nearly always carried out on minors; the vast majority of Somali girls experience the practice between the ages of 5 and 9.
In today’s globalized world, FGM has travelled far and wide and thriving unnoticed, in migrant and diaspora communities. “I think there are still a lot of misconceptions about FGM, like it’s practiced by ignorant Africans and people over there who are uneducated, uncivilized. FGM is happening in Africa, but also in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and even in places like Colombia and the United States of America and the United Kingdom!” says Jaha Dukureh, UN Women Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Africa, an outspoken activist and a survivor of FGM and child marriage herself.
Who performs FGM procedures?
FGM is typically performed by circumcisers who often play central roles in their communities such as attending childbirths. In some settings, non-medical professionals do the procedure, while in other situations health care providers perform FGM due to the belief that the procedure is safer when medicalized. However, the practice is unsafe regardless of where and how it is performed.
Nur was cut by a local woman in the village of Olol, 40 kilometers north of Dhusamareb town, Somalia. Examinations revealed that Nur had also contracted tetanus, most likely from unsterilized equipment used during the procedure.
Sometimes, FGM is also a matter of business, especially in impoverished areas. Last year, when UN Women spoke to some beneficiaries of an anti-FGM programme in Sierra Leone, Mabinty Kamara, a woman who had performed FGM for 30 years as a rite-of-passage ceremony for girls, said: “We do it not out of love, but out of custom, ignorance and poverty.” Fatmata B. Koroma, a traditional chief from the same community who also used to perform FGM explained: “We must create optional means of survival for those who already consider initiation as employment.”
What can you do?
Purity Soinato Oiyie was only 10 or 11 years old, when her father decided to circumcise her and marry her off to a 70-year-old man. What follows is a story of one girl’s determination to escape FGM, finish her studies and go on to become a Maasai activist who now goes door-to-door talking to others about why they should stop practising FGM.
Purity is not alone.
When more people pay attention to crimes and injustices like this, it often spurs better laws, policies and actions. Learn more about FGM, educate others around you and support organizations and activists working on the ground, like Purity, Jaha and many more.
