Scores of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) survivors from across the country Tuesday thronged the National Assembly to give unsettling testimonies of the ordeal they endure as a result of being subjected to FGM.
Some survivors came from Upper River Region (URR), North Bank Region (NBR), and West Coast Region (WCR).
The survivors were invited by the National Assembly Joint Committee on Health and Gender to share their opinions about FGM as part of the consultation stage of the women's amendment bill which seeks to repeal the anti-FGM law. The consultative meeting was communicated through the national languages (Mandinka, Wolof and Fula--the survivors chose which language to speak) to ensure understanding.
Due to the sensitive nature of the matter and a request from the joint committee, the identity of the survivors wouldn't be revealed. We will instead be identifying them as survivor One, Two, Three etc.
Survivor One recollected when she was cut during her childhood. She said six women held and forced her on the ground while her eyes were wide open as they cut part of her body. She said whoever saw her will know that they violated her rights.
"Thereafter, I observed that I suffer from stomach ache whenever I visit the toilet. And then people will tell me to put up with the pain, saying women always have stomach aches. On the whole, they sealed my genitalia, disrupting the blood circulation. I endured pain (repeating it three times) and people told me when you get married, it will stop. When I got married, two months later I went to the toilet, the blood that piled up inside [my private part] oozed out. The blood was dark and it caused infection in my stomach. Every month the part that is cut gets swollen. I continued to endure the pain. I had an operation at Bansang [Hospital]. Thereafter, I completed my education and started work in Banjul, the other side (of the cut part) got swollen," she said.
Survivor One further said one Dr. Kurang operated on her. The aforementioned doctor told her that the pain was caused by circumcision, saying the way she was circumcised was bad and when people talk against it, they would argue that it's a strong culture. But why must we stick to a culture that torments women, she quizzed. For her, to argue that it's religious when it's not a prerequisite doesn't validate the reality. She also cannot comprehend why men are hell bent on forcing them to undergo FGM.
"Even an obligatory duty, for example fasting, Allah said if one is sick and cannot fast, the person shouldn't fast. More so an optional task which is tormenting women and you people are forcing us to endure it. We the women, who experience the pain, tell you about it, yet you don't trust us. Whenever I go to give birth, they would do a C-section for me to be able to deliver. And even now, sometimes when I sit down, the part that is sewed, I feel the pain. I am not the only person going through this. We have a group of women who also complained about the same thing," she said.
According to a global healthcare establishment Johns Hopkins Medicine, a Cesarean section, C-section, or cesarean birth is the surgical delivery of a baby through a cut (incision) made in the birth parent's abdomen and uterus.
"Marriage is an obligation yet you don't have enjoyment in it. The part that gives you enjoyment they cut that. When they cut that part, the woman will not enjoy her marriage. Others don't enjoy it at all. Get married and get kids but you will not enjoy it. Marriage is obligatory, so marriage and cutting which one should be considered?"
She said if it is down to choosing between marriage and cutting, the former should be considered. And that's why, she said, women are using "Taba" to have enjoyment in their marriages. Taba is called snuff in English, which is a type of smokeless tobacco that is made of finely ground or shredded tobacco leaves.
"I'll clarify it today, women said when they use Taba that's when they get wet quickly and have enjoyment. That's why they use Taba to enjoy their marriage with their husbands. And Taba is killing us. Is it that women don't have rights? In the past there were no advanced machines which would show the causes of the pain because I didn't know earlier until I went to Banjul and thanks to Dr. Kurang, who informed me about the cause. And our mothers don't know what causes the pain; they will link it to being a woman. How is that being a woman? We are dying and this has killed many women. My daughter has undergone FGM. For one month she finds it difficult to sleep. Let us ban the practice," she said.
She said men today would be talking about women's private parts, arguing the different types of cutting meted out to women. She implored men to sympathise with women and accord them the respect they deserve as they are their mothers.
"Men enjoy their marriage while women don't. 85% of women don't enjoy their marriage which is why women are exploring other means like "Taba" to also enjoy themselves," she added.
Survivor Two said she endured pain due to FGM and that she has six daughters, but three survived. According to her, she will never get over the pain she got as a result of FGM until she dies. She said people don't ask about the plight of women, which is a huge problem in this country.
"We have our rights. The reason we are in this situation is because there is no dialogue. Questions weren't asked. There is also the issue of fear. Women don't have a voice (aren't empowered) to speak in public. This is a problem for women. If at all Allah said circumcision is "haram" (forbidden), we wouldn't be sitting here to talk about it. We will not because we are Muslims. Whatever Allah does not want, we don't want that either," she said.
"Circumcision has tormented us a lot. Firstly, when you gave birth to a child and took her to circumcision a week after she was born. When they come, they will tell the mother to buy a razor blade and the circumciser and her team will hold the child and cut a part from her genitalia. Blood would be oozing out of the child from morning until sunset. What's the benefit? What's the reward?"
She said what's cut is huge which is why when some women give birth to two kids, wherever they sit, that place gets wet. She also said there are other survivors whose cuts are deep and circumcisers do seal the genitalia of their clients.
"They go to the bush and get certain leaves, pound them and use that to seal the woman's genitalia. They would not remove it until she gets married. And they would say if she doesn't get intimate with her husband, it would get seal again," she explained.
She said their private parts have now become the talk of town, saying even children now talk about their mother's genitalia. She said the whole discussion on this matter is engineered by men. Thus, she asked whether men have enquired women's plights on the matter before gunning for the practice to continue.
"What respect do we have now? It didn't stop there. Women's genitalia is also discussed these days on social media.
"Let us ban the practice of FGM. Whoever wants to torment women, you can advocate for the practice to continue. But whoever wants to empower women in this country, protect their rights, promote peace and ensure our healthcare is stable, please let us ban FGM.
"A child died in my presence while undergoing FGM. She was cut and the blood didn't stop oozing. She was enduring that for two days and she later died. So what's the benefit of FGM if not suffering?"
For Survivor Three, even if 1% of the victims and or survivors of FGM endure harm, the practice ought to be eradicated.
"This is an issue that not everyone is going to agree with. I've not seen a matter in this world that everybody agreed to. There are other women who said FGM don't harm them. We don't deny that because people are not the same. But there would be a difference, which is if there is harm involved, it has to be banned even if one person is affected," she said.
She opined that some women proponents of FGM are just following what is being fed to them by religious leaders. To her, because Imams are respected and Muslims are expected to follow their leadership, people tend to abide by whatever the religious leaders say.
Survivor Three disclosed that she used to be pro-FGM because she was oblivious of the harm it causes. But through her research and participation in sensitisation programmes, she realised that what she endures is exactly what is being said in those events.
"I'm married but I still endure pain...I don't even enjoy intimacy," she said, adding that there are many women going through the same but they shy away from talking about it.
Survivor Four said: "I'm a survivor and I have only two children (both girls). The experience I encountered during birth terrified me so much that I joined Family Planning without the consent of my husband. This is because I am the only one who understands the pain and trauma I endured."
For Survivor Four, her husband wouldn't comprehend what she was going through. She said when she was giving birth to her child she bled a lot until the nurse attending to her was worried. The nurse had to scan her, and did blood transfusion to her as well. This happened to her during her two deliveries. It was after the second delivery that he decided to join family planning because she couldn't bear the distress and or trauma it caused her.
"I know that mentally I'm not ready to have another child," she added.
Speaking further, she said the reason why other survivors aren't speaking out is because of the insult and disrespect those who speak up received from society. She also disclosed that she sells lubricants to women which they use in their marriages. She said all the buyers of the lubricants are FGM victims and or survivors, adding that she has a relative who uses Taba for more than 10 years now. Treading on 'what if age of consent is put in the law', she quizzed what adult woman would want to endure cutting just like how it is done to children?
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"Women are going through a lot and they wouldn't speak about it. You will be having an intimacy with your partner and you feel as if there is pepper under your genitalia," she said.
"Why would you cut our genitalia? If Allah didn't want it to be there He wouldn't have put it there. Allah put it there, leave it there for us."
She also proposed men to marry two wives--one who undergoes FGM and the other who doesn't. She said men would come out and start advocating for women not to practice FGM.
"I'm sorry but what the men are doing is deliberate," she said, and the assembly committee room, which was filled to the brim with invitees and lawmakers, laughed at that. The co-chair of the joint committee Hon. Fatou Cham of Sanementereng constituency called the session to order.
Survivor Five is also against the proposition for age of consent to be considered in the anti-FGM law.
"Whether 18 years or not, the law should remain as it is: Ban the practice completely so that in future it benefits the children and our healthcare," she said.
Also married, she uses the lubricant and buys it from the pharmacy. She added that the person who took her to undergo circumcision once called her and encouraged her to continue her anti-FGM campaign.
"I ask her why? She told me I took you to undergo circumcision but I regretted it because no one educated me about the harm it causes and I realised my married daughters who also underwent FGM always have operation anytime they go for delivery," she said.
She further said the same person had a problem with one circumciser over her granddaughter whom she took to undergo FGM. The circumciser told her that the cut was not enough so she had to return the girl to be cut for a second time.
"The child now has a keliod (A keloid is a growth of extra scar tissue. It occurs where the skin has healed after an injury ©Medine Plus) on her genitalia and she told me she is worried about her when she marries. This is painful. So the law should not be open for 18 year olds to undergo FGM," she said.
