By Ban Al-Dhayi
Somalia has a high prevalence rate of female genital
mutilation/cutting. UNICEF and partners are pushing to effect genuine change
towards abandoning the practice ““ for once, and for all.
BOORAMA, northwest Somalia, 27 February 2013 “
Ten-year-old Kheiriya has a secret. The secret is that, unlike most girls her
age in Boorama, she has not been circumcised. The soft-spoken girl is scared to
let others know.
UNICEF correspondent Susannah Price reports on a campaign
to end female genital mutilation/cutting in Somalia.
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“I have to hide it from my friends and teachers. I cannot
tell them I am not cut, because they would say: you are haram [impure], and no
man would marry you,” she says.
High rate of FGM/C
Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is the cutting,
partial or total removal, of the external female genitalia for cultural,
religious or other non-medical reasons. It is usually performed on girls
between the ages of 4 and 10 and is also known as female circumcision.
Somalia has one of the highest prevalence rates of female
circumcision in the world. In a recent survey, at least 98 per cent of women
said they had undergone the process, which is performed by traditional
practitioners using a knife or razor blade on girls aged between 4 and 8.
Work to end FGM/C
Since 1996, UNICEF has approached FGM/C in Somalia from
religious, medical, community and cultural perspectives. UNICEF has worked with
religious leaders to help dispel the widespread misconception that it is an
Islamic expectation and duty.
“Shying away from admitting there has been a serious
problem in Somalia and a harmful practice in place for hundreds of years will
only make the problem worse,” says
prominent Imam and State Religious Affairs Councillor in northwest Somalia
Sheikh Yahya Ibrahim.
Girls and women are subjected to health risks which have
life-threatening consequences based on false beliefs that have nothing whatever
to do with religious or medical teachings.”
A survey conducted in Somalia reported near universal
practice of FGM/C. UNICEF and partners are pushing to effect genuine change
towards abandoning the practice ““ for once, and for all.
Under the UNFPA “UNICEF Joint Programme, child protection
committees and advocates have engaged over 300,000 community members and
stakeholders in meetings on FGM/C abandonment in Puntland and Somaliland. The
Joint Programme has also provided technical assistance to line ministries, and
has brought together authorities, religious leaders, youth, educators, women
and men to discuss and reach consensus on ending FGM/C. Events commemorating
the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM/C, 6 February, reached over
30,000 community members with public debates, community dramas and other
activities.
Genuine change
“Personally, I don’t want my daughters to experience the
same trauma and fear I had to go through in my childhood,” says Nimo, mother of 2-year-old and 8-month-old girls. “I want to abandon circumcision, but only when the entire
community does so; I don’t want to be the only one going against the social
norms.”
“A genuine change in the beliefs and practices around
FGM/C in Somalia can only be achieved through persistent dialogue at the
community level and the translation of the insights from dialogue into
practice,” says UNICEF Somalia Chief of
Child Protection Programme Sheema Sen Gupta. “We
need to focus on young girls and, specifically, assisting those responsible for
them to make a deliberate stand against the practice.”
There have also been important changes on the policy
level on abandoning FGM/C in Somalia. In 2012, the new Somali Constitution
outlawed all forms of FGM/C. In line with the Constitution, a draft decree
outlawing all forms of FGM/C is awaiting consensus from religious leaders
before presentation to the Cabinet for approval. To date, a policy on FGM/C
abandonment in northwest Somalia has been finalized, while work is ongoing to
finalize policy in the northeast region.
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