Guest Blogger: Kieran Taylor
February 6th marks the United Nations’ International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). This brutal and archaic practice, as the name suggests, involves the violent disfigurement and/or removal of girls’ genitalia at any point from infancy to puberty and beyond. FGM has no benefits for the victim, no basis in any medical science, and can directly cause or lead to a broad assortment of severe medical issues throughout a victim’s life. Still, the practice persists to this day in countries across the world, with millions of young girls subjected to it each year. The UN estimates that 230 million girls and women alive today are survivors of FGM, with up to 12,000 becoming victims every single day.
Girls who survive FGM bear the physical and mental scars of the practice for the rest of their lives. The practice, which is illegal in most countries, is regularly performed in unsanitary, non-medical environments by untrained cutters, resulting in dangerous complications throughout life - including infections, menstrual and urinary difficulties, persistent pain, and issues with childbirth. In fact, a study published in Scientific Reports examining FGM’s impacts on neonatal mortality rates estimated that in countries where FGM is practiced, it contributes to or causes 44,320 excess deaths every year.
FGM is most commonly performed as an enduring byproduct of antiquated, but deeply-ingrained, social and cultural views on women’s purity and sexuality. In populations and communities where the practice is regularly performed, there can be heavy social pressure to continue its use on new generations, as it is often viewed as a mark of purity and even a source of women’s honor, with perceived risks of ostracism for those who do not fall victim to it. As such, and given that it is typically performed by other women, the daughters of FGM survivors are at a much higher risk of falling victim than girls whose mothers did not undergo it. This cycle must be broken.
As the UN observes its annual day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, it also looks ahead to March, when the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)’s 69th session will convene and honor the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The declaration, which outlines the state of and necessary actions toward advancing women’s rights and gender equality worldwide, identifies violence against women as a critical area of concern, including specifically identifying FGM as a harmful and violent practice that must be eliminated, with “vigorous support” offered to survivors. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), too, highlight FGM as a critical issue to girls and women, with SDG target 5.3 calling for an end to violent practices such as FGM and forced early marriage.
Studio Samuel, recognizing the danger FGM poses to the girls in our community and across Ethiopia, stands firmly alongside these appeals. As of 2020, Ethiopia was home to 25 million women and girls bearing the scars of the practice, the highest absolute number in Eastern and Southern Africa, and with one million in our home community of Addis Ababa alone. This includes nearly half of all adolescent girls aged 15-19, and a staggering 65% of those aged 15-49.
However, these figures are on the decline. Where five in every ten adolescent Ethiopian girls today are survivors of FGM, as recently as 1970, it was as high as nine in ten. In 2000, only three in ten women and girls opposed the practice, but in 2016, eight in ten called for its end. With FGM’s modern persistence largely relying on societal pressures, the push for its elimination (by 2030, per the SDGs) must begin at its roots: connecting with influential community leaders to promote education about the brutal practice and its consequences. On this day of zero tolerance, we implore you to keep victims of FGM in your thoughts, and to take action to protect the next generation of girls from its harms.
Studio Samuel provides care and support to our girls that they may otherwise have no way to access, including healthcare and counseling services for addressing past trauma. Please consider contributing to our work today.
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