Sierra Leone: Pro-FGM voices resurge despite UN ban

By Kemo Cham

On the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), an influential voice of in the women’s secret society in Sierra Leone has threatened to disown an agreement with the government which seeks to discourage underage initiation.

In Sierra Leone FGM is practiced alongside the Bondo Society, which encompasses cultural, traditional and religious aspects of the country’s various ethnic groups. This society is headed by elderly women called Sowies.

FGM is banned by the United Nations General Assembly which is encouraging its member countries to put a stop to the practice. In Sierra Leone, because of its cultural significance, the government has made it clear it won’t ban it.

But in 2012 it reached agreements with Sowies and local chiefs in a number chiefdoms, through MoUs which prohibit initiation of underage children, as a compromise.

Mrs Coloneh Sesay, President of the National Sowie Council, was quoted Tuesday accusing the government of reneging on its part of the agreement. And she said if the government failed to act, they will disregard the agreement.

Among their demands are livelihood replacement opportunities. Many families rely on the practice of FGM as source of livelihoods.

Anti-FGM campaigners cite psychological and medical implications on the FGM aspect of it on women and especially girls. There have also been reports of deaths resulting from the practice, mostly among underage girls as a result of bleeding.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says the practice violates women’s right to health.

The International Day of Zero Tolerance of FGM was declared by the UN, and it is commemorated every February 6. FGM is also captured in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as target for elimination by 2030.

UN figures show that over 200 million women in the world have undergone the practice, mainly between five and 15 years.

Politics is thought to be a strong underlying factor fueling the FGM practice. In order to win local support, some politicians have been reported sponsoring initiation activities, which campaigners say encourage the initiation of many women and girls. In response to this, the government this week slammed a temporal ban on the practice until after the March 7 elections.

But despite the ban, the pro-FGM campaign is gaining momentum by the day. The ‘Sierra Leone Women Are Free to Choose’, a feminist organization supporting FGM, on Monday declared a week-long campaign of activities geared towards lobbying against efforts to ban the practice. The group, headed by US-based Sierra Leonean researcher, Fuambai Sia Ahmadu, was scheduled to stage a rally in front of the office of the World Health Organisation in Freetown on Tuesday, among other activities later in the week.

KC/APA