More mothers have joined the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Nigeria, reports the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
A check conducted by NAN indicate that the long time tradition of female circumcision is still practiced in some places, but viewed as a gross injustice to the female child in some quarters.
Mrs Efe Osas, a civil servant in Abuja, on Tuesday told NAN that FGM otherwise known as female genital cutting or female circumcision is reprehensible and unhealthy.
“It is defined as all procedures that involve the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or any other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons,” Osas said.
She said it is a procedure that causes injury to the female genitals without medical indication and FGM was practiced in ancient times in Africa and some continents.
Osas said that FGM was used as treatment for clitoral enlargement, hysteria, lesbianism and erotomania.
She advised parents to shun the practice and advocate for a better lifestyle.
A businesswoman, Mrs Oluchi Ezeorah, say FGM is harmful to the female child and it affects her entire life especially when she gets married.
“They practice it because it prevents promiscuity by reducing a woman’s sexual desire and increasing her faithfulness to her husband.
“Some belief that women who have undergone FGM are more fertile and have an easier time giving birth as it improves their ability to tolerate the pain of childbirth,” she said.
Ezeorah said no matter the belief, the practice was wrong and the government should prosecute anyone who practiced such act.
Ms Amirat Mu’azu, a worker, said FGM has serious health burden, infection, pain in passing urine, chronic pelvic pain and painful menstruation, among others.
Also, those women often experience difficulty and pain during sexual intercourse with the consequence of having a poor quality of sexual life, she noted.
On her part, an elderly woman, Lady Ijeoma Emeka, said FGM can make a lady psychological unstable.
“It’s a very traumatic experience for the victims,” she said.
Emeka said some culture circumcise their girl child at teenage, which could be very painful as no anaesthesia was given as they use sharp object for the circumcision.
“Self esteem issues sometimes manifest by feeling incomplete,” said Emeka.
Mr Emmanuel Offor, a banker, said that the new generation should advocate and create more awareness why FGM should be stopped.
He also said that some men got married to the affected ladies, which affects their life and may end up in divorce.
NAN reports that the Federal Government of Nigeria, development partners and other civil society organisations are campaigning against the practice in the country.
