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European Journal of Social Sciences - Volume 2, Number 1 (2006) A Study of the Prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation and Parents’ Attitude among the Yorubas of Western Nigeria B. I. Popoola Department of Educational Foundations and Counselling, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria. E-mail bayodep@yahoo.com Abstract Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a term used to describe the removal of all or a section of the external parts of the female genitalia is recognized worldwide as an unnecessarily destructive practice affecting the human reproductive system. Within the last one decade, the Nigerian government has recognized the practice of female genital mutilation as a major public health problem and has mounted extensive media campaigns to stop it. This paper is primary conceived to examine the extent to which government campaign efforts have yielded fruits. Specifically, it examines the current prevalence of the practice and its perception among urban working parents. The study participants consisted of 1583 female parents selected by accidental sampling technique from government offices in three urban cities of Osun State, Nigeria. One instrument titled “Practice of Female Circumcision” was administered to parents to collect data on the prevalence of FGM and to determine the attitude of subjects towards the practice. Results from frequency counts, percentages, and chi-square statistical analysis of data revealed that majority of sampled mothers engaged in FGM within the last five years with adherence to tradition and the need to protect female children from sexual promiscuity as major reasons for the practice. The paper brings to focus the need for a well-coordinated professional counselling intervention to eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation. Introduction Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), which is sometimes mildly referred to as female circumcision, is the removal of a certain amount of tissue from the female external genitalia through traditional genital surgery. The term, as defined by the World Health Organization, describes any of four different types of cutting procedures performed on a woman’s external genitalia. The first type, known as sunna circumcision, is the removal of the tip of the clitoris. Type II, known as clitoridectomy or excision, involves the removal of the entire clitoris and the adjacent labia. Type III, which is known as infibulation, involves the most extreme type of mutilation in which the entire clitoris and the adjacent labia are removed and the involved areas stitched with suture leaving a small opening for the passage of urine and menstrual blood. Type IV comprises any form of genital alteration in which chemical or corrosive substances are applied to the vagina with the purpose of narrowing its opening. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), in whatever form, is recognized worldwide as an unnecessarily destructive 114
International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Volume 2, Number I (2006) practice with several negative effects on the woman’s reproductive system. In the opinion of the World Medical Association, FGM is detrimental to the physical and mental health of girls and women and it is a form of oppression of women (WMA, 1993). The World Health Organization has consistently opposed the medicalization of the practice on the ground that it lacks any medical benefit (Dorkenoo, 1996). Female genital mutilation is practiced in many parts of the world but mainly in 28 African countries and some parts of Asia and the Middle East (WHO, 1995). Toubia (1995) reported that 130 million of the world’s female population had undergone genital mutilation and two million are at risk every year. The operation is forced on approximately 6000 girls per day, about one every 15 seconds. It is estimated that about 75 percent of the global cases of FGM come from Africa. In Nigeria, very few statistical studies are available which provide accurate estimates of the frequency with which FGM is performed. One of the widely-cited estimates is the 1997 World Health Organization study which reported that an estimated 30.625 million women and girls, or about 60 per cent of the total female population of Nigeria, have undergone genital mutilation while many more are still being subjected to it every year (WHO, 1997). Also, a 1996 United Nations Development Systems study reported a similar number of 32.7 million Nigerian women affected by FGM (US Department of State, 2001). It is not unlikely that the incidence of FGM in Nigeria would be much higher than had been reported in these studies since practitioners and victims do not voluntarily report such cases to the government. Also, cases of FGM may have been grossly under-reported as the practice occurs mostly in villages where government health officials do not have easy access to monitor its spread. FGM is practiced in Nigeria in different degrees across ethnic groups, though research data on the prevalence of the practice among ethnic groups have not been consistent. For instance, while the National Baseline survey reported that more than 90 percent of Yoruba women had undergone genital mutilation; Modupe & Lola (1985) and Ogunlola, Orji & Owolabi (2003) reported 71.3 and 60 percent prevalent rates respectively. However, findings on types of FGM practiced in the country indicated that Types I and II are the most predominant forms (Mandara, 2004; Mukoro, 2004). The procedure followed in carrying out FGM in Nigeria and the age at which it is done vary according to ethnic groups. In some ethnic groups, FGM is performed on girls from a few days after birth to eight years while in others, it is performed as a rite of womanhood for adolescent girls preparing for marriage. In some few groups, FGM is performed on pregnant women shortly before they give birth, based on the traditional belief that the baby will die during delivery if its head touches the mother’s intact clitoris. In few extreme cases, the procedure is performed on a deceased woman before burial if it is discovered that the woman did not have the operation before her death (US Department of State, 2001). Generally, FGM is performed at home by medically untrained persons under unhygienic conditions and without the use of anesthesia. The common picture is that of a struggling and screaming girl held down forcefully by adults while the traditional surgeon with crude and nonsterilized instruments in a poorly-lit room attempts to cut away any part of the external genitalia that he or she is able to get hold of (Hosken, 1989). Quite often, under the conditions in which the operation is performed, what the traditional surgeon intends to be a minor cutting may end up being a most severe form of mutilation. Various reasons have been adduced to justify the practice of FGM. The most common is the need to maintain local custom and tradition. In many communities, it is believed that FGM is a custom decreed by the ancestors and that its elimination or discontinuation is tantamount to the demise of the cultural heritage of the people, and an invitation to incurring the wrath of the ancestors. Many of the traditional beliefs of the people regarding the practice of FGM are incompatible with biological facts. For instance, it is believed that FGM ensures cleanliness, enhances femininity, and promotes sexual faithfulness of married women. There is also a strong traditional belief that the 115
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References [1] Abiodun J.O. (1981)
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