Female Genital Mutilation now Introduced in Medical Curriculum

Young girls are prone to FGM

Amby Uneze in Owerri

The ugly experiences associated with the age-long practices in some states in the country of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) has led to the introduction of the subject as part of the curriculum in the teaching of nurses and doctors by the Nursing Council of Nigerian (NCN) and the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN).

At a recent two-day Media dialogue with editors, feature writers on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Abandonment in Nigeria organised by the Advocacy Unit, Child Rights Information Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of Information, in collaboration with the United Children's Fund (UNICEF), to mark the World Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Osogbo, Osun state, the National President of Inter-Africa Committee on Harmful/Violence Practices against Women and Children, Prof. Modupe Onadeko observed that there was no single benefit from female genital mutilation and cutting.

According to her, it has now become a punishable offence for any medical practitioner, be he/she a nurse or doctor to be involved in the practice of female genital mutilation/cutting, hence the Harmful/Violence Practices against Women and Children was introduced into the curriculum of the medical profession.

In her presentation on, ‘The Practice and Experience of FGM/C in Nigeria’ she said the practice of FGM/C is widely common in parts of South-west, South-south, South-east and areas located around Chad and Niger Republic extending to some areas in North-east like Kano, Abuja, Nasarawa among others where certain cultural practices have infiltrated.

She said, though the prevalence of cutting is more in the South-west and South-south, some tribes are however practicing the unclassified types including one often referred to as medical circumcision.

“Here a medical practitioner helps to carry out the procedure in a facility to eliminate infections. Whichever form or method of mutilation or injury done on the female child, this is unacceptable and it is a harmful practice that must be stopped forthwith”, said Onadeko.

She continued, “It is estimated that between 100 million to 140 million girls and women alive today have experienced FGM. If current trends continue, 15 million additional girls will be subjected to it by 2030. Some communities believe the practice is religiously required. Others believe that FGM will deter pre-marital sex or promiscuity. It’s these entrenched beliefs that the United Nations Population Fund, (UNFPA) and other UN agencies like UNICEF are working to change.

“An estimated 19.9 million Nigerian women have undergone FGM/C meaning that approximately 16 per cent of the 125 million FGM/C survivors worldwide are Nigerians (NPoPC 2014). The overall prevalence of FGM/C among girls and women aged 15-49 years in Nigeria (27 per cent) is lower than in many countries (NDHS 2013)", she stated.

According to Onadeko, who is also Community Health Physician and Consultant Reproductive/Family Health University College Hospital, Ibadan, FGM/C affects women and young girls in various ways such as: infections (genital abscesses), problems having sex (pain), depression and anxiety, painful menstrual periods, urinary problems, Vesico Vaginal Fistula (VVF) or Recto Vaginal Fistula (RVF), problems in childbirth (need to cut the vagina to allow delivery and the trauma that results, often compounded by re-stitching).

She allayed the fears that women who were not circumcised are more prone to promiscuity than the circumcised ones, noting that about 99.9 per cent of commercial sex workers had their genitalia mutilated.