SUPPORT FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL (SFWACI)
SOCIAL REFORM / GLOBAL ATTENTION ON FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (F. G. M) IN WEST AFRICA
In Sierra Leone, before, during and after the rebel war, traditional and cultural practices such as the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M) have led women’s standard of education and socio economic and political participation to drop. The practice of Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M) have rendered thousands of women vulnerable and to an extent put the lives of children at risk before even they are born.
Research conducted by SUPPORT FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL (SFWACI) have led us to understand that the lack of knowledge of the consequences of Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M) is what is responsible for the ignorance of the local people. The continued practice of Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M) in this part of the world has continued to put the lives of women and their unborn children at risk and this practice has existed for over two centuries.
Because of the lack of knowledge of the consequences of Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M) practitioners who are otherwise known as SOWEH in most of our local languages are seen as leaders and promoters of good because of the mentality given to young girls to convince them to consent to being part of the practice thus rendering them to become second fiddle to men because after going through the process of Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M), it sometimes leaves the women and young girls to continuously bleed and sometimes expose them to Genital diseases. Most of these practitioners are seen in their various communities as native doctors, tribal heads and they are custodians of the law. They are at the center of social community activities.
Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M) practitioners are powerful in their various communities to an extent that 80% of the women and young girls who have gone through the practice are afraid to come out and speak against the practice because they believe the leaders of the practice possess some spiritual powers to change their future if they came out and speak against the practice. The practice of Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M) has been a menace to women psychologically and it should be eradicated without confrontational condemnation.
It is the belief of SUPPORT FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL (SFWACI) that the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M) should be socially addressed without confrontation with local practitioners because to them, the practice is a way of life and so getting them to stop the practice is not just a huge task but a revolution. In every stage of a human beings life, knowledge should always grow above ignorance to stop inhumane activities anywhere in the world.
To eradicate poverty, Sickness and death among these vulnerable women, young girls and their unborn children, the education against the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M) should be reformed through medical awareness, and the provision of incentives like financial loan schemes because to almost 99% of these practitioners, the practice is not just a way of life but it is also their source of income. The eradication of this practice should be replaced with diverse and advanced women leadership trainings and economic participation. In other to drastically eradicate or reduce to the lowest minimum the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M), practitioners and followers should be engaged in a large scale activity that will disengage their attention from practicing Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M).
These recommendations, if fully implemented, shall help to curb maternal mortality and give women more advanced leadership positions in national issues and more importantly help them to be self sufficient and become less dependent on men.
In this part of the world, young women are forced to undergo Female Genital Mutilation (F.G.M) and if they refuse, they are been abandoned or excommunicated from their communities. They are abandoned by their family members. They are stigmatized and to some extent many women and young girls end up becoming prostitutes and Illiterates because their parents refuse to pay their fees. If you click on the SUPPORT FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL (SFWACI) website at www.sfwaci.org, you will find pictures and two twenty minute videos of two young ladies. One of the ladies explains how she has been stigmatized and abandoned by her family for refusing to undergo Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M) and the other lady explains the ordeal she has been subjected to since the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (F. G. M) was carried on her.
NOTE: – It is our responsibility as a people to come to the rescue of many thousands of these young
Women and girls who are faced with this situation.
JOIN THE FIGHT AND SAVE WOMEN AND GIRLS. AS THE SAYING GOES WHEN YOU HELP TO SAVE THE LIFE OF A WOMAN AND GIVE HER EDUCATION, YOU’VE EDUCATED A WHOLE NATION. WE ARE THE PROMOTERS, PROTECTORS AND DEFENDERS OF HUMANITY. WE NEED YOUR HELPING HANDS TO GUIDE AND PROTECT HUMANITY.