Have you ever heard of FGM (Female Genital Mutilation), which refers to genital mutilation or injury to women? Many countries have practiced it as a traditional practice for a long time, but the burden on women is great and there is no health benefitIt's been said.... Such FGM has decreased dramatically in recent years, mainly in Africa. In East Africa, girls under the age of 14 are targeted forsurveyin the 20-year period from 1995 to 2016, the execution rate has gone from 71.4% to 8%. What exactly has been behind this decline? This article will unpack FGM and its decline in detail.

Girls against FGM (Photo: UNICEF Ethiopia/Flickr [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

FGMWhat is

First, I would like to explain what FGM is: FGM is the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other damage to the female genitalia for non-medical reasons.pointInjury. Injury includes needle pricking and cauterization. Specifically, it can be broadly divided into the followingfourpatterns.

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FGM, which is not based on medical evidence, places a heavy burden on the woman's body: it can cause heavy bleeding, urination, pregnancy and childbirth problems, tetanus and other infections, mental illness, pain during sexual intercourse, and even death in the worst case scenario, making it a life-threatening practice for the woman. In the worst case, it can lead to death. FGM is a life-threatening act, especially in light of Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which statesbased onThe World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have called it a violation of the human rights of women and children.Claimed.The following is a list of the most common problems with the

Although FGM is associated with such great dangers, it was already in the ancient Egyptian period.It had begun.It is performed mainly from infancy to about 15 years of age, and may be performed in the first few days of life. It is often performed by women who do not have proper medical training, such as local elders, and can also be performed by traditional medical practitioners, herbalists, and relatives of the woman.

Such FGM is the world'sAbout 30 countriesThe majority of the work is done in the following regions: Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Currently, there are at least2,000,000 peopleof women are undergoing FGM and dailyApprox. 6,000 peopleof women are said to be the new targets of FGM.

As of 2016. United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)Based on data from the

whyFGMwill be done?

Why has FGM, which is said to have no physical benefit to women, continued to be practiced from ancient Egyptian times to the present? Several reasons can be cited for this. First, FGM may be based on a male-dominated position, such as the notion that women are to remain virgins until marriage and then enter the family, or that female independence and assertiveness are undesirable. Suppressing women's sexual urges before and after marriage and managing women's sexuality is what makes FGMObjective.This is the case.

In addition, with the penetration and establishment of FGM, FGM is no longer a social obligation.be capturedIn many communities where FGM is practiced, it is believed that without FGM, a woman cannot marry or be recognized as a full-fledged adult, and FGM is considered an essential coming-of-age ceremony to educate and prepare women for marriage. In addition to this, in societies where it is customary for women to be financially dependent on men for their livelihood through marriage, performing FGM isbe useful as a meansThe first is the "M" in "M".

Furthermore, the aspect of control over women's sexuality overlaps with the importance of virginity in a religious sense, and the doctrine justifies FGM even when the religion does not directly support FGMbasisIt is sometimes used as a FGM, including such notions, is considered to symbolize "purity" and "beautycaseThere are also

FGMDecrease in

FGM is practiced in various regions based on various backgrounds, but its practice rate has been declining in recent years. 208,195 girls up to 14 years old were surveyed from 1990 to 2017 in 29 African countries and 2 Middle Eastern countries (Iraq and Yemen) on FGM practice rates.surveywas conducted. According to the study, the decline was particularly pronounced in East Africa, where it fell from 71.4% to 8% between 1995 and 2016. Additionally, North Africa saw a decline from 58% to 14% between 1990 and 2015, and West Africa saw a decline from 73.6% to 25.4% between 1996 and 2017. All regions show a decrease of more than 40% between 10 and 15 years.

A meeting on FGM at the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 2018 (Photo: UN Women/Flickr [ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

However, even within the same African country, the rate of practice varies from country to country. As can be read from the previous world map, FGM is almost universal among women aged 15-49 years in Somalia, Guinea, and Djibouti, with more than 90%, while it is around 1% in Cameroon and Uganda, etc., so there is quite a range within the same African country, and it is It is difficult to say that FGM is declining at the same rate. In addition, if we look at the rate of execution in the Middle East, it has increased by 1% between 1997 and 2013, so it is not possible to say that FGM is decreasing in all regions of the world in general. However, a significant decrease in the rate of FGM practice, particularly in Africa, would be significant.

FGMBackground of decline

What was behind the decline in FGM, especially in Africa? We found the efforts of people from all walks of life.

The first important change is at the governmental level, mainly through legal measures. Countries in Africa where FGM is currently practiced22 of 28 countriesThe practice of FGM is prohibited by law in However, enacting a law banning FGM was not an easy task, even in terms of changing a long-standing tradition. Take the case of West Africa, where in 1991 Burkina Faso became the first country in West Africa to enact a law punishing FGM.reorganizingAnd Benin's 2003 and Guinea's 2016 laws banning FGM.take inOther countries followed, including. On the other hand, in Liberia, as of 2013, women aged 15-49About 40%.was undergoing FGM, but for a long time no law banning FGM was enacted. president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who took office in 2006 as a woman president, was active in women's rights and other issues, but her presidential decree banning FGMWe could have signed it.was in 2018, 12 years after he took office. Following this presidential decree in Liberia, Mali is now the West AfricanThe onlyThe country is a FGM non-abolition country.

Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (Photo: European Parliament/Flickr [ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

Somalia, another country with a high rate of FGM implementation, is also on its way to abolishing FGM. In Somalia, the 2012 constitution provides that FGMProhibited.was conducted from 2006 to 2011.surveyIn the "FGM in Somalia," 64.5% of women believe that FGM should continue, indicating that FGM is deeply entrenched in the country. In Somalia, where support for FGM is high, no penalties or other measures have been established for the proactive and concrete implementation of FGM by parliamentarians for fear of losing votes.He didn't show up.However, following the death of a 10-year-old girl by FGM in 2018, the first prosecution in the countryannouncementThe first time the FGM was performed in Somalia was in 1983. This will be a major catalyst for a change in awareness of FGM in Somalia, a country where FGM is deeply rooted.

In areas where FGM is deeply entrenched as a tradition, unilateral legal regulation alone will not eliminate FGM. It is necessary to convince those who believe that the practice should continue. In this sense, awareness-raising activities and persuasion by traditional leaders can be effective tools. The opinions of traditional leaders, who are trusted by the people and can exist on a smaller regional basis than on a national basis, are more likely to be reflected in public opinion and are more persuasive. There is also a movement among those traditional leaders to cooperate with each other to abolish FGM. For example, in Nairobi, Kenya, in August 2018, leaders from 17 African countries gathered for a conference with the goal of each leader bringing the content back to his or her region and disseminating it to the people.done....... There, a draft plan to contribute to the African Union-led effort to end child marriage, FGM, and other harmful cultural practices isDiscussed.The following is a list of the most common problems with the

Not only that, numerous religious leaders have also spoken out against FGM. For example, Ibrahim Hassan, a Somali religious teacher, said that FGM is not supported by Islam.statementIt is important for people to hear directly from religious leaders that FGM is not a religiously endorsed practice, and it is believed that direct statements by trusted leaders to people, rather than in the form of laws, are an effective means of changing attitudes toward FGM. FGM is not a religiously supported practice.

FGM study session among mothers in Ethiopia (Photo: UNICEF Ethiopia/Flickr [ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

As mentioned earlier, FGM is still a long-standing traditional practice, and because people have an entrenched belief that they are not recognized as full-fledged women unless they undergo FGM, its abolition and reform of people's awareness is not a simple matter. Therefore, rather than rejecting FGM in its entirety, new rituals are being increasingly adopted to replace FGM, with an emphasis on its traditional and cultural characteristics, understanding and respecting its traditional nature, and emphasizing its aspect as a "rite of passage to adulthood. Alternative Rituals,ARP (Alternative Rites of Passage) TrainingIt is called "FGM Ritual" and is intended not only to educate girls on the fundamentals of what FGM is and its dangers, but also to educate them on other topics such as health and culture, so that they can make the best choices for their future. As FGM is further abolished in the future, the adoption of such rituals will further expand.

The change is not limited to the activities of government, community, and religious leaders in power, but is also occurring at the level of the women themselves who are subject to FGM, their mothers, and their schools. In recent years, an increasing number of people who would have undergone FGM are now resisting and opposing FGM themselves. In addition, as more people have access to education than before, thanks to support from international organizations and large investments, more mothers are becoming knowledgeable about FGM, and an increasing number of mothers are willing to not allow their children to undergo FGM or do not want their daughters to experience the same suffering that they have experienced. An increasing number of people are also becoming more aware of the issue.

Inadequate education about FGM, its health hazards, etc., may be one of the factors contributing to this situation. This may be one of the reasons for this situation. Therefore, in recent years, seminars on FGM have been held at the school level.implementationThe school also conducts activities to inform students about the dangers of FGM. In one school in Kenya, students sing a song urging parents to abolish FGM and live their lives freely.initiativeand girls who have fled FGM, joined by other boys and girls and their parents, to march for the abolition of FGM.activityis being implemented.

Thus, changes and efforts by various people have led to a decrease in FGM.

Awareness campaign for girls' rights conducted by girls in Kenya (Photo: UN Women/Flickr [ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

insurmountable task

Although FGM is gradually decreasing due to the activities of various people and organizations, there are many issues that will not disappear, and the road to 0% is far from over. Losing FGM, which is accepted as a tradition, is not an easy task and requires consideration of local culture and values. Therefore, it is not very effective to give only knowledge of what is "right". It is also too short-sighted to try to solve the problem by law alone. FGM will continue to be practiced under the radar even when it is known to be against the law, and no activity is meaningful unless the people practicing FGM truly feel that FGM should not be practiced. Even with the best intentions, insensitive intervention from the outside can be counterproductive to reducing FGM.

Although challenges still remain, the decline of FGM in Africa is still significant. FGM, which is said to have no benefits for women, is not an issue that can be overlooked simply because it is a tradition. However, FGM is an issue that must be handled with care and sensitivity, as it involves a large cultural component.

A mother is undergoing FGM. She has decided not to allow her daughter to undergo FGM. (Photo: UNICEF Ethiopia/Flickr [ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0])

Writer: Wakana Kishimoto

Graphic: Saki Takeuchi