It is on record that more than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is practiced and a further 12,000 are at risk of the practice each year.

FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15 and it is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

FGM involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.

The day is, therefore, instituted by the United Nations (UN) to draw global attention to the plight of millions of women and girls who suffer from this obnoxious practice.

Statistics

In Ghana, a draft baseline survey conducted in 2023 in the Kassena-Nankena West, Wa West, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba and Pusiga districts revealed that FGM is still practiced in the country and 29 per cent of the respondents still support the practice.

The survey was conducted by the University of Health and Allied Sciences supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The survey revealed that in the Kasena- Nakena West and Wa West districts, five per every100 population of female aged 15-49 had undergone FGM.

In the Sawla -Tuna-Kalba District, the survey observed that three in every 100 population and in the Pusiga District, two per every 100 population had undergone FGM.

In Ghana, a group that works at empowering communities where FGM is practiced to desist from the act, is the Association of Ghanaian Women and Children’s Welfare (GAWW) and in a release to mark the day, the Executive Director, Gertrude Eunice Maasodong, says FGM exposes women and girls to a wide range of health issues.

She mentioned some of the implications to include severe bleeding, emotional and psychological trauma, sexual health, risk in maternal and reproductive health, child birth complications, as well as obstetric fistula. Some women develop Keloids and, in some cases, they die out of shock.

Deep cultural belief

The association says FGM was a deeply rooted cultural practice that some find it difficult to let go as they believed that the practice was passed on to them by their forefathers and it is difficult to let go with the fear that they will not get to their ancestors if they die.

Others, it says, also see it as a trade while in some quarters, they say FGM prevents women from becoming promiscuous.

The belief too is that when the clitoris touches the child’s head during delivery, the child will die. 

Peer pressure and stigmatisation pushed some to go for FGM and according to the GAWW, all these are not backed by facts and, therefore, the mindset and myth surrounding the practices needed to be demystified.

Way forward

In 1994, the government outlawed FGM and those caught in the act risk a three-year sentence under the Criminal Code Amendment Bill; Ghana, 1994 and this has made the practice to go underground and is, therefore, calling for more advocacy in communities if FGM is to be eradicated in the country.

It says since the practice was deeply rooted in the cultures of the people,there was the need for a continuous education in the communities and the association, therefore, is calling on the government to see FGM as one of its priorities programme. 

The UNFPA, over the years, continuously has showed commitment by funding GAWW to carry out series of programmes to end FGM, however, it the association says since funding is a big challenge for community education which is still key, it is calling for support from all stakeholders to help eradicate the menance.

It also calls on the media to discuss FGM frequently and not during the yearly celebration to commemorate the day, saying since FGM is deeply rooted, there was the need for continues education in the communities.