Fighting female circumcision at local level

The women had gathered at a school near Dukem Town, 35 km east of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to wait for the leader of a local NGO that is working with the Inter-African Committee, a pan-African NGO dedicated to fighting female genital mutilation (FGM). The NGO leaders had travelled to conduct one their routine community-awareness training programmes on reproductive health. The 80 or so women, aged 16 to mid-30s, included three girls who had just finished high school. All but five had been circumcised and organisers of the meeting said some were infected with HIV. Teshome Segni, executive director of the Integrated Community Education and Development Association, said the NGOs, often working with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), were trying to combat FGM at local level thereby improving reproductive health within the communities. "This community had no information on reproductive health before I came here," Segni said. "The young girls are one of our activist groups. They promote human rights within their own communities, as well as reproductive rights. "Our main goal is to eradicate FGM from this area," he added. Ethiopia has a 90 percent prevalence rate for female circumcision, according to the Italian-based international association, No Peace Without Justice. In 2004, however, the government criminalised female circumcision. Where FGM is practiced, the most common type is clitoridectomy, which involves the cutting of the clitoral hood, with or without the removal of part, or the entire clitoris. Segni said some of the biggest challenges in their anti-FGM campaign were deep-rooted cultures and traditions. The women, she said, faced being ostracised from their communities if they did not under circumcision. They had also been led to believe they would not be able to get a husband if they were not circumcised. The prevailing ideology, Segni said, was that women were not perceived to be mature or fertile if they were not circumcised. "The mother usually decides whether the girl will be circumcised, but the pressure comes from male elders, as well as fathers and prospective husbands," Segni told IRIN. "The idea of marriage often forces them to practice circumcision. [However], the women often don't have much information, so the harmful practices continue." Circumcised at three One of Segni's students, Aberash Nuguse, 14, was circumcised at age three and married off against her will at age 12. "I was circumcised with my sister of five years and my older brother with the same razor blade," Nuguse said. "I was given [local] alcohol to intoxicate me and kill the pain." "I remember three people holding me down, including my father," she added. "I was crying and even fainted. It was painful and I bled for 15 days after the circumcision." She is now supported by ICEDA after divorcing her husband. She had suffered months of brutality whenever she refused sexual intercourse because of the pain induced by the act. Her husband, Nuguse told IRIN, would beat her unconscious every night that happened. On her wedding night, Nuguse said she fainted during the first sexual encounter with her husband because of pain. Her reproductive organs were torn and she bled profusely, but he continued through and did not stop until he had finished. "The men are taught that this is a sign of their strength," Segni said. "They are told to be forceful and strong during the consummation night and beyond and that this will prove their power over their women." Segni is trying to raise money to build a youth centre so that his students will have a positive environment to socialise in.