According to the UNFPA (July 2020 data), 98 percent of the women aged between 15 and 49 years has undergone FGM in Somalia and it is as high as 93 percent in Djibouti, 91 percent in Egypt and 88 percent in Sudan. The joint report released by Equality Now, End FGM European Network and the US End FGM/C Network acknowledged that the ritual is practised outside the Middle East and Asia region too and the official global picture of FGM is incomplete.
Women’s rights were adversely affected amid the COVID-19 global pandemic especially in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), from intensified domestic violence to joblessness, and made life more miserable. Many malpractices against women have caught the pace in this pandemic such as inhumane practise of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). It is a harmful procedure undertaken to brutally cut the female genital without her consent, which is a clear violation of human rights.
In April 2020, United Nations projected that around two million cases of FGM could occur in the next decade due to disruptions caused in prevention programmes by the pandemic which would otherwise have been averted in normal living conditions.
No Benefit, All Harm
FGM harms women in many ways and interferes with the natural functioning of the female body. The reasoning behind FGM is quite complex and dominated by traditional beliefs viz. preserving a girl’s virginity and securing her status until she gets married. There are significant physical as well as a psychological consequence of FGM such as bleeding, infertility, infection, death, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder etc. The quality of the sex life of the victim is also diminishes.
COVID-19 & Rise in FGM conducts
Now that global attention has shifted to COVID-19 and its impact on the economy, numerous initiatives that advocate the rights of women and provide welfare services to vulnerable women are being delayed or no longer a primary concern. With much more families falling well below the poverty line, and girls being dropped out of school early or forced into child marriages, Female genital mutilation is also likely to persist to appear in the region without notice because, unlike most ‘holidays,’ where the society has something to look forward to, it’s not similar: there is no definite message on what’s going to happen next and it’s confusing people.
According to the UNFPA (July 2020 data), 98 percent of the women aged between 15-49 years has undergone FGM in Somalia and it is as high as 93 percent in Djibouti, 91 percent in Egypt and 88 percent in Sudan. The joint report released by Equality Now, End FGM European Network and the US End FGM/C Network acknowledged that the ritual is practiced outside the Middle East and Asia region too and the official global picture of FGM is incomplete.
Legal Support: Too Little, Too Inadequate
While FGM is constitutionally illegal in Somalia, opposition from religious and conservative clusters has prevented lawmakers from making laws to prosecute wrongdoers. Since 2014 the legislators have been pushing a bill and it is expected to be passed this year, however, the political turmoil that surrounded the first democratic election in more than five decades has raised concerns that the bill can be postponed or stymied.
Egypt has the world’s largest number of FGM conducts. It was banned in the year 2008 (after years of advocacy from women’s right organisation), but many parents are still pushing their daughters into it as a rite of passage; it is estimated that 27 million of women aged 15 to 49 i.e, 87.2 percent have been cut. In countries like the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, there is a ban on medical facilities related to FGM but it is still practiced at home. Sudan too criminalised FGM this year amidst the political transition after 30 years of dictatorship.
Nevertheless, FGM is still widely accepted and law enforcement remains a challenge. Law being an important deterrent is still not enough and there is a need for a national strategy that includes input from judiciary, police, health care providers and civil society.
Forgotten international and regional instruments
In 2003, Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights was adopted for the “elimination of harmful practices” against women in Africa, also known as Maputo Protocol. Later in 2011, the African Union Assembly/AU/ Dec. 383(XVII) has given a decision acknowledging FGM as a violation of human rights.
Commission on the Status of Women also approved the draft on “Ending female genital mutilation” (56th session) in 2012. In 2015, FGM is explicitly included in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under Target 5.3 and in 2016 the UNGA adopted a resolution (A/ RES/70/138) which recognises FGM as a form of discrimination and violation of the human rights.
Need of coordinated approach at local, regional, national and international levels
Execution of strategic approach starting from ground level is the key to eradicate the evil of FGM. Targeted training and supportive education need to be promoted to address the issue of FGM with prudence. Healthcare providers play a vital role in the eradication of FGM and they must be acquainted with the ethical and legal frameworks related to the eradication of FGM. This carries the promotion of community awareness and objection to FGM as a violation of one’s rights, including the right to reproductive as well as sexual and physical health for women. Duty of Physician
Taking into consideration the ‘cultural identity’ and the psychological needs of the person involved, doctors should explain the consequences and risks of FGM while discouraging it. They should incorporate health promotion and counselling for women along with informing health care providers and cooperate with local community social and cultural leaders to make them aware.
Development of community programs meant to eradicate the custom, providing appropriate medical knowledge about its negative impacts are needed along with professionals who are skilled to talk to young girls and women and intervene wherever it is required.
The WHA Resolution
The resolution was passed by the World Health Assembly in the year 2008 on ending FGM, stressing upon the requirement for strenuous action in all sectors- education, health, finance, women’s affair and justice.
WHO efforts to eradicate FGM focus on:-
1. Strengthening the health sector responses: Implementing and developing tools, guidelines, policy and training to make sure that health workers can give counselling and medical care to women and girls who have undergone FGM and spread awareness for eradicating the practice.
2. Building evidence: Generating knowledge about consequences, costs and causes of the practice, which includes why the activity is being carried by health care workers and how to eradicate the practice and how to take care of those who have experienced it.
3. Increasing Advocacy: Developing advocacy and publication tools for local, regional and international efforts to end the practice, including tools for advocates and policymakers to predict FGM’s health burden, cost savings and the potential health benefits to the public by preventing FGM.
We must understand the underlying causes of the breaches to truly address the violence and violation of human rights. The state must encourage community intervention programs. Intervention is necessary to stop the abuse