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One by One Communities Abandon Female Genital Mutilation
In Africa and the Middle East, and in immigrant communities throughout the world, more than 3 million young girls and women undergo female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) every year. FGM/C-cutting the external genitalia or sewing shut the vagina-is a social convention that often defines cultural gender identity; undergoing FGM/C ensures a girl's or woman's status, chastity, health, and beauty and is often celebrated with parties and gifts. This traditional practice is carried out for a range of reasons in each community, with variations in the severity of the cutting and the ages at which girls are cut. In general, the ritual means she is a member of the community, desirable as a wife, and has brought her family honor.
The practice, however, also causes immediate and long-term physical and psychological harm to the girls and young women who face it. It may put them at risk of HIV infection, severe complications in pregnancy and childbirth, and, in the worst cases, death. FGM/C causes severe pain and bleeding, diminishes capacity for sexual pleasure, and often leads to psychological trauma. At its root and in these results, FGM/C violates women's human rights.
A decision to refuse FGM/C by a girl or her parents carries significant consequences regarding status in the community and the girl's future prospects for marriage; rejecting this cultural practice can result in isolation, a loss in social status, and jeopardize the girl's future which is often dependent on the quality of life she can secure through marriage. While sometimes, one particularly driven and brave girl or family is willing to break with tradition, girls are only able to avoid the procedure without this cost when a community collectively abandons FGM/C. Some people who have taken part in successful community abandonment efforts have become educators and organizers, helping other communities where FGM/C is firmly rooted to examine, evaluate, and ultimately walk away from the practice.
An Empowerment Program with Proven Results
One such effort began in one village in Senegal, and this program has since earned critical praise and successfully expanded into over a thousand communities. Tostan, meaning "breakthrough" in the Wolof language, began as an unnamed adult education program in the late 1980s in the village of Saam Ndiaye, outside of Thiès. With a small team, Molly Melching developed a literacy program for women, who were taught skills in research, project management, and social advocacy. The program also included facts about female reproduction and the health effects of FGM/C. From 1987-1989, the team developed the program in 27 pilot villages throughout the Thiès and Kolda regions, and official formed Tostan in 1991.
In 1997, the communities Malicounda Bambara and Nguerine Bambara participated in Tostan education programs and became the first to issue public declarations abandoning FGM/C. Tostan has since become synonymous with these community-generated public declarations abandoning FGM/C. Community leaders present these declarations at celebratory, ceremonial gatherings, broadcasting the establishment of a new norm. For example, in November 2005, the community of Sédo Abass in Sengal held a ceremony, where village chief, Samba Demba Sall, announced, "we are not afraid. We have made this decision to end the practices of FGC.With the declaration we announce it to everyone in the country." At this event, women, adolescents, village chiefs, religious leaders, former cutters, and government representatives spoke out, voicing their support for the human rights of girls. Their public declaration was a courageous appeal to all communities in Senegal that still practice FGM/C to emulate their decision. As the Coordinator of the Community Management Committee (CMC) of Sédo Abass declared, "today's ceremony is for all women and marks the liberation of our girls. Women were only surviving before. With Tostan we have learned, understood and united for change."1
Tostan has successfully keyed into the social/cultural element of FGM/C; the program does not reach women in isolation. Rooted in the belief that every citizen has the potential to catalyze community change when provided with learning that is accessible, relevant and adaptable, the program is designed to build the knowledge and skills to become confident, resourceful actors in the social transformation and economic development of their communities.2 Through Tostan's Community Empowerment Program, a participating community typically establishes two classes: one of 25 adolescents and one of 25 adults. Over the course of at least 30 months, these 50 people participate in active, informal lessons about literacy, problem-solving, hygiene, health, basic math, human rights, and democracy in their own language. Following a practice that is common in Wolof society, participants in the classes adopt a friend or family member with whom to share programming information. Training in the implementation of practical development activities often follows these lessons, involving the whole community in the empowerment process. This process of organized diffusion moves from family and friends to neighboring communities. Villages reach out to neighboring villages-an effort that engages surrounding communities in change at a larger scale.3
In 2003, Tostan started its first long-term project outside of Senegal : a three-year initiative in Guinea through the United Sates Agency for International Development (USAID). That same year, the total number of declared villages rose to 1,140 with 23 communities in Burkina Faso joining the public declaration abandoning FGM/C.4
A Movement with Broad Impact
In Senegal, Tostan has sparked a spreading grassroots movement to abandon FGM/C. In some places, this movement has set into motion a much larger process of change, including debates over traditional beliefs about honor, shame, virginity, and marriagability. There are also indications that many community members, including leaders, are questioning their deeply-held convictions and exploring alternative coming-of-age rites.5 This has positive implications for gender equity and for addressing HIV/AIDS, which is at crisis levels in many of the areas of the world that practice FGM/C. A community that has already entered into open dialogue about beliefs surrounding sexuality, gender and health is more likely to embrace an effective, comprehensive HIV prevention effort.
The Senegalese community of Sédo Abass came together to put on the following skit at their public declaration ceremony last year:
"Aissata" is 12 years old. Her father has found her a husband. She must leave school to marry. She wasn't asked in advance. Shortly afterwards she gets pregnant. At the birth of the child, the doctor finds out that she has been cut. Complications occur because the scar bursts open. Voices that represent people's conscience sing the following song to Aissata's parents who represent all parents:
"parents, send your children to school,
instead of marrying them early."6
This skit illustrates how these programs result in a more holistic understanding of social problems, and how the benefits impact the community at every level. Individual girls who are free from FGM/C often incur other benefits such as increased access to education, greater awareness of health issues, and improved confidence. For families, these programs mean that not only are their daughters healthier and happier but that the entire family is stronger as a result of the increased education and communication. Finally, the collective element benefits the entire community. By working toward their own successful social transformation, communities strengthen values and skills related to human rights, women's equity, health, and democracy.
To learn more about the types of FGM/C and their health implications, please visit the World Health Organization at:
www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/
To learn more about FGM/C as a human rights violation, please visit Amnesty International at:
www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/femgen/fgm1.htm
To learn more about law and policy related to FGM/C, please visit the Center for Reproductive Rights at:
www.crlp.org/ww_iss_fgm.html
References
- Jacqueline Deelstra, 70 Villages Abandon the Practice of Female Genital Cutting
and Child/Forced Marriage in the Village of Sedo Abass (2005), accessed 23 August 2006, <http://www.tostan.org/news-nov21_05.htm>. - About Tostan, Tostan (2004) accessed 23 August 2006, <http://www.tostan.org/about.htm>.
- Changing a Harmful Social Convention: Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, (Florence, Italy : United Nations Children's Fund, Innocenti Research Center, 2005).
- About Tostan, Tostan.
- Changing a Harmful Social Convention: Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, (Florence, Italy : United Nations Children's Fund, Innocenti Research Center, 2005).
- Public Declaration of Sédo Abass, Tostan (2005), accessed 23 Auguat 2006, <www.tostan.org/PublicDeclaration_Sedo_Abass.PDF>.
