Eight years after the Federal Government signed the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act 2015 into law, which banned the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Nigeria, Investigations confirm that many girls are still subjected to this illegal and harmful practice, while numerous survivors continue to suffer in silence. ANGELA ONWUZOO reports.
Mrs. Nnenna (surname withheld for fear of intimidation) is deeply upset that her three-year-old daughter underwent Female Genital Mutilation. Her distress stems from her own experience as a survivor, which gives her firsthand knowledge of the excruciating pain involved.
The 34-year-old mother of three revealed that her daughter was subjected to the harrowing procedure by her mother-in-law, with the complicity of her husband, despite her explicit opposition.
The Imo State indigene said her mother-in-law insisted that her daughter’s clitoris must be cut and, with her husband’s support, successfully carried out the circumcision when the girl was just three weeks old.
“I had several quarrels with my mother-in-law and my husband over the issue, and they refused and insisted that my daughter’s clitoris must be cut so that she will not be following men when she grows up. I explained to my mother-in-law about the risks associated with FGM, and they asked me if my mother did not circumcise me when she gave birth to me,” Mrs. Nnenna angrily recounted.
Hailing from Nrii-Ife in Ezinihitte Mbaise Area of Imo State, she said FGM still thrives in the region. “It is difficult to see any female child in our community whose clitoris has not been cut or tampered with after birth by their grandmothers. The grandmothers claim circumcision will help reduce promiscuity in the children when they become adults,” she explained.
Sharing her frustration with PUNCH HealthWise, the businesswoman said, “I have three children: two boys and a girl. I gave birth to my daughter in April 2020 during COVID-19. I was seven months pregnant when my husband and I travelled home in February. We planned to stay for about two weeks. While planning to return to Lagos in March, there was a lockdown due to COVID-19. So, my mother and mother-in-law suggested I stay back and deliver the baby in the village while my husband, a commercial bus driver, returned to Lagos.”
Clitoris cut two weeks after birth
“Initially, I didn’t welcome the idea because of my two kids that I left in Lagos, but after much persuasion from my husband, I stayed back and delivered my daughter in the village. Two weeks after my delivery, my mother-in-law came and told me that it was time for my daughter to be circumcised. I politely told her that we had been advised not to circumcise our girls and that it was not good. But she refused.
“She told me that as long as my daughter was born into their family, she must be circumcised, whether I liked it or not. She asked me to show her any girl who had died from circumcision in their community since I claimed it was not good. She added that every girl born into their family must be circumcised while alive, to prevent promiscuity.”
The dark-complexioned woman explained that her mother-in-law succeeded in having her daughter circumcised because she had no support. “My husband was not in the village when I delivered; he had already returned to Lagos. So, when I insisted that my daughter would not be circumcised, my mother-in-law called my husband on the phone and told him our daughter must be circumcised. She warned that our daughter would be promiscuous if we failed to circumcise her.
“But I told my husband to ignore what his mother was saying. Instead of supporting me, he became angry and asked if I was more knowledgeable than his mother. My mother was sick at the time, and there was nobody in my husband’s family to support me because they had all circumcised their girls. When my mother-in-law finally got my husband’s approval, she hired a local nurse to cut my daughter, and that was how it was done. I wept while they were performing the procedure, as my mother-in-law held my daughter,” she recalled.
Baby given only a painkiller
“The bleeding was so severe that I thought she was going to die. When they finished, they only asked me to give her paracetamol. My daughter cried inconsolably for hours due to the pain. Each time she urinated for over a week after she was cut, she would start crying. It was a bitter experience.
“Each time I remember how she was cut against my wish, I feel sad because I had no support. I am a survivor of FGM and I know what I go through during sex with my husband. I don’t enjoy it and don’t want to talk about it. I just hope my daughter will not endure what I am going through now,” she narrated in agony.
FGM common in Imo State
Asked if her mother-in-law was aware that FGM has been banned in Nigeria, Mrs. Nnenna said, “Banned where? If it has been banned, not in our Imo State, because our girls are still being cut by grandmothers.”
FGM involves partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organ for non-medical reasons. It is globally recognised as an extreme violation of the rights of women and girls.
Another Lagos resident and mother of two from Ebonyi State, Mrs. Jane Onu, shared a similar experience. She told PUNCH HealthWise that the law banning FGM in Nigeria has not been effective.
The 28-year-old fashion designer said, “My mother and mother-in-law insisted that I must circumcise my daughters three weeks after their deliveries. It was a constant battle. I allowed my first daughter, now five, to be circumcised because I delivered in the village, where my mother and grandmother called the shots while my husband was in Lagos.
“But when I delivered my second daughter in Lagos in January 2021, I refused to yield to their demand. With the support of my husband, we were able to resist the pressure and ensure she was not circumcised. The doctor at the hospital advised me never to circumcise her. Without your husband’s support, you cannot oppose the family, especially the mother-in-law.”
FGM persists despite VAPP Act
Findings by PUNCH HealthWise reveal that cases of FGM remain high in Nigeria despite the existence of the ban. In May 2015, former President Goodluck Jonathan signed the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, which outlawed FGM and all other forms of gender-based violence.
Section 6 of the VAPP Act provides for punishments for FGM. Any person who performs FGM or hires someone to do so faces imprisonment of up to four years, a fine not exceeding N200,000, or both. Those who attempt, aid, abet, or incite FGM face up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to N100,000, or both.
Eight years after the law’s enactment, UNICEF reports that the practice remains widespread in Nigeria. With an estimated 19.9 million survivors, Nigeria accounts for the third-highest number of women and girls who have undergone FGM worldwide.