Clement Adeyi, Osogbo

Female genital mutilation (FGM) also known as female circumcision is commonly practised in Africa, Asia and Middle East. Victims of FGM face  diverse health challenges such as infertility, maternal death, infections and  loss of sexual pleasure. 

Some parents still subject their female children to the practice, following a cultural belief that it suppresses libido and checkmates promiscuity with a view  to maintaining virginity  in order to get married with dignity. Report said about  27 percent of Nigerian women between the ages of 15 and 49 were victims of FGM as at 2012. In the last 30 years, prevalence of the practice has decreased by half in some parts of Nigeria.

Former president, Goodluck Jonathan, signed a law in May 2015 to abolish the practice. Since then, it has declined further, due to incessant advocacy by NGOs, government agencies and other stakeholders against the scourge.

However, activists, including NGOs such as UNICEF and  UNFPA have continued to advocate total eradication.

Nigeria is rated as having the highest incidences of FGM in the world, with Ebonyi, Osun and Ondo states leading the pack among states where it is practised.

The United Nations Population Fund Youth Participatory Platform (UNFPA YPP), Lagos, recently trained over 200 female students in Osun State on digital skills and how to use the social media handles to end FGM. UNFPA YPP, which collaborated  with Value Female Network (VFN), selected the students  from secondary schools and tertiary institutions in 20 communities for the two-day training.

The participants were taken through theoretical and practical trainings by ICT experts on how to deploy Apps and the social media handles to advocate against the deadly practice by sensitising stakeholders in their communities to abandon the practice. Coordinator of UNFPA YPP, Elizabeth Talatu, stressed the need for community leaders to be actively involved in the efforts to end the menace.

She charged them to be change agents in their communities by using digital and social media platforms to articulate FMG activities and expose perpetrators. She also called on the female students to always report to the civil liberty organisations and the police any attempts by parents, guardians and circumcisers to subject them to FGM, insisting that there were laws that frown against the practice in Nigeria.

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Talatu  urged governments, security agencies and the judiciary to ensure the domestication of laws against FGM in all the states of the federation to prosecute culprits: “UNFPA YPP, Lagos, organised this training for girls to train them on how to make use of digital platforms and social media handles to champion the abandonment of FGM. We expect the participants to return to their communities and start creating awareness on social media and also report any violence against them.”

Costly Aderibigbe,  a member of UNFPA YPP and Executive Director of VFN said exposing the pupils to relevant information on FGM and the mastery of the usage of the several digital tools would go a long way in addressing the scourge:

“We decided to come to Osun  because the state is among states where FGM is common. We want to build an army of girls who would use their digital skills to help eradicate the scourge.

“The world is now a global village and we want them to use the skills acquired from here to reach out to their peers, talk to people in their communities with the usage of digital skills. You can imagine the rate at which the message will be spread. We are also looking at their generations ending FGM.

“It is better if  the young people are talking about ending FGM because it is affecting them the more. They have information to rescue others and raise alarm when there is any suspected case.”

A member of UNFPA YPP,  Blessing Ashi, explained that FGM was harmful to girls and leaves them traumatised without any health benefits, calling on circumcisers to desist from the act. She expressed optimism that the training would fast track reduction of FGM practices: “Henceforth, I shall be more active on social media to be able to inspire  advocacy against the so-called female genital mutilation that has continued to pose dangers to the

health of our girls in the society.”

Aisha Oladapo, a participant, begged government and security agencies to ensure immediate arrest and prosecution of anyone found indulging in FGM.