Circumcise your daughter or we all die!

Narrative of a family hunted by tradition
This is a pathetic story of Mr. Nwokoma Donald, a young Nigerian parent who is being hounded by his extended family for refusing to allow the circumcision of his daughter, an act that defies age-long tradition of the south-eastern part of the country, as narrated by Yusuf Odaudu in Lagos. His prologue began like this:

I heard strange noise coming from his apartment at about 11:40 pm, as we share the same rented building located at No 7, Ikuomola Street, Cement Bus/stop, Dopemu, Lagos. I was alarmed because few days earlier, Donald called to tell me that he was going to travel with his family, that it was urgent.

I could feel his gasps intervening with his words as he managed to express himself. It was clear that he was in a hurry to catch up with a taxi or flight. It was quite sudden and unusual of him, but since I was still at my workplace, I couldn’t probe further. He hung up even before I could ask his destination.

I wanted to raise alarm but my instincts cautioned me not to put myself in danger. They could shoot me, if they were armed. I knew the noise couldn’t have been from the owner of the apartment who had already announced his journey few days earlier.

I was transfixed in thoughts, trying to figure out the situation. But the more I pondered and peeped through my windows in search of a familiar figure, the more the banging and screeching lingered until it disappeared faintly with some footsteps out of the compound.

The following morning, I was curious to know the cause of the noise. I went to his apartment only to find the place broken into and vandalised. I dialled his line but it was switched off.

I saw a threatening note left at the threshold of the door with the words, “Anyi ka n’ebido ebido. This is just a warning for your refusal to succumb to our age long family tradition of female circumcision”.

I was horrified for a moment as I kept wondering what brought the strange visitors, and why they vandalised my neighbour’s apartment. Perhaps they were the group of people who kidnap people for money rituals.

Weird thoughts kept popping up in my head but they weren’t close to the actual motive for that nocturnal visit. Some of our neighbours also joined in the lamentation and suggested that we should report to the police because the family might be in danger.

As we kept pondering what to do, I finally got across to Donald. I told him that his apartment has been vandalised by a mysterious group, though I wasn’t sure they took any property but they left a note; then I read out the note to him.

He said the visitors came to circumcise his daughter, which was why he left the house. He narrated how the hunt to get his daughter circumcised started, and how it was an age long tradition he was running away from.

It dawned on me that Donald and his family may have been in trouble, had they not travelled a few days before the incident.

I have heard and read about female circumcision, also known as Female Genital Mutilation, and how it has gained deep roots in some cultures in Africa. No doubt, it is a barbaric practice inflicted on innocent young women.

In its most extreme form known as infibulation, it can involve the removal of all external genitalia and the stitching up of the labia leaving only a very small opening for sex, urination, menstruation and giving birth. This often makes a later operation necessary to create a larger opening.

According to a report published by a non-governmental organisation on FGM – 28 Too Many, one in four Nigerian girls have undergone FGM. Some are cut as infants (16 per cent before their first birthday), and 82 per cent of women who have had FGM confessed that they were cut before the age of five.

Dr. Ann-Marie Wilson, founder of 28 Too Many, noted in the report that more than 200 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to FGM, which the World Health Organisation defines as “procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.”

She added that a particularly brutal operation can leave a woman with infections ranging from haemorrhage, abscesses and, sometimes, a lifelong loss of sensation during sex.

According to Dr. Wilson, “The report is a wake-up call about the reality facing grassroots activists in Nigeria.”

Other reports also indicate that there have been global objections to the practice of genital cutting by international organisations, especially as it involves circumstances that violate human rights.

Amnesty International, a human rights organisation, reports that the operation is often carried out using blunt tools — penknives, fragments of glass or tin cans.

The Pan-African Committee on Traditional Practices estimates that two million girls in Africa undergo genital cutting each year which endangers both their health and their lives.

The committee also reports that circumcised women experience chronic pain, chronic pelvic infections, development of cysts, genital ulcers, excessive scar tissue formation, infection of the reproductive system, decreased sexual enjoyment and psychological consequences such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

UNICEF has also estimated that more than 30 million girls are at risk of being subjected to FGM over the next decade. ‎

All these human rights organisations have frowned at the fact that the victims of this barbaric practice are denied of their rights to make a choice on what affects their lives.

Those hounding Donald have attributed family mishaps, taboos and misfortunes to his refusal to FGM, and have threatened to take his life and that of his daughter whenever they are caught.

Donald has, since then, resorted to moving his family around different locations for fear of being tracked down by these predators and to avoid further contacts and anything that might endanger his life and that of his family.

The sad experience of Donald is one that would elicit pity and rage to any sentient being. Pity in the sense that he, though innocent of the customs, has been frustrated out of his country of birth.

Rage in the sense that it involves an innocent young girl whose only crime is that she was born a girl.

Interestingly, the Nigerian government took a historic step in May, 2015, outlawing the practice of female genital mutilation, a move activists have described as “hugely important” in curbing the excesses associated with the custom. But until this enlightenment reaches the grass root, Donald’s daughter and other innocent young girls are still at the mercy of those predators.

There is an urgent need to increase grassroots enlightenment with a view to curb this menace, hoping that Nwokoma’s daughter doesn’t become a victim of this ill wind that blows no one any good.

By ascribing mishaps, bad luck, deaths and all sorts of misfortune to uncircumcised women, the perpetrators are being driven by a strong illusion that is shrouded in falsehood and calumny, one that seeks to destroy the future of innocent young women.

Before and After Circumcision Changes of Females
Procedures used for partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons fall under the category of female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision or female genital cutting.

The procedures offer no health benefits and often lead to several complications. Traditional circumcisers perform these procedures, but more than 18% of these procedures are also performed by healthcare providers. The practice is illegal in most countries, but some communities still do it for many different reasons.

Although the practice is recognised internationally as a violation of rights of women, it is still practiced in more than 27 African countries, as well as Yemen and Iraqi Kurdistan, and in Asian and the Middle East. Female circumcision before and after causes several changes in women and often create several health related issues as well.

There are different types of procedures used for female circumcision, such as clitoridectomy, excision, infibulations, and others.
• Clitoridectomy involves removing the clitoris – it could be partial or complete removal.
• Excision involves partial or complete removal of the clitoris as well as the labia minor.
• Infibulation refers to the procedures used for the narrowing of the vaginal opening – it involves creating a covering seal for this purpose.

There are several other procedures in practice as well, including piercing, pricking, scraping, incising, and cauterizing of the genital area. There will be vast difference when you look at

Female Circumcision Before and After
Harms of Female Circumcision
There aren’t any benefits associated with FGM; in fact, female circumcision before and after leads to several unwanted complications related to the natural bodily functions of girls and women.

Immediate Effects
The immediate effects include severe pain and bleeding. The girl could go into shock when no anaesthetics are used during the procedures. Female circumcision may also lead to wound infections, including gangrene and tetanus as well as blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis B, HIV, and hepatitis C. Other immediate effects include inability to urinate, damage to nearby organs, including the bowel and the urethra, and injury to vulvar tissues. FGM can also cause death.

Long-Term Effects
Even if the girl survives the initial trauma, she has to deal with several long-term consequences of female circumcision, such as abnormal periods, chronic pelvic infections, kidney impairment, and possible kidney failure.

Some other issues include damage to the reproductive system that leads to infertility, pain during sex with no pleasurable sensation, formation of cysts and scar tissue, and flashbacks during childbirth or pregnancy. In some cases, it becomes important to perform another surgery to open the lower vagina for childbirth and sexual intercourse.

Psychological Harms
Some women also face psychological issues, including depression, low libido, and anxiety. FGM is an extremely difficult experience for girls and women and they carry the trauma throughout their lives.

So many young women end up working with psychological counselors and often live with feelings of betrayal by parents. Even though FGM is illegal, many people still do it. Some parents take their children abroad for FGM, which is again illegal. If caught, the offenders have to face a large fine with jail time up to 14 years.

Why Is Female Circumcision Done?
You can find several images of female circumcision before and after and understand the amount of pain women have to face during the procedures. The question is, “why do people opt for such gruesome procedures?” People in different societies have different reasons to practice FGM, but these ‘excuses’ fall into five main categories:

• Psychosexual Reasons: Many societies believe that FGM is a way to help women control their sexuality. Female circumcision changes how women perceive sex and intercourse. They believe that the removal of the clitoris is the only way to control a woman’s sexuality. It is also considered a way to ensure that a woman will stay virgin before marriage.

• Sociological and Cultural Reasons: Many communities think that FGM is a way to make a young girl a part of a community, and they believe that this is a step a girl takes to become a woman. Some myths in the communities also promote this practice – some believe that if left uncut the clitoris will become as large as a penis is.

• Hygiene and Aesthetic Reasons: Some communities believe that the external female genitalia is dirty an ugly, so they use FGM for hygiene.

• Religious Reasons: Many people use religious doctrine to justify this practice, but in reality, neither Islam nor Christianity sanctions FGM.

• Socio-Economic Factors: In some communities, it is obligatory for girls to undergo FGM before they could get married. In societies where women are largely dependent on men, they have to follow the norms and go for the procedure in order to get married.