The Sunday Mail
Emilia Zindi recently in Lusaka, Zambia
May 25 brings the whole of Africa together in celebration. Thanks to the African leaders who gathered in Addis Ababa-Ethiopia in 1963 to institute the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU).
The AU epitomised the Day of Africa which has continued being recognised as Africa Day.
All Africans regardless of their nationality celebrate this noble cause of African unity on this day. The common denominator is that we are one people.
And because of that, we share certain African cultures. While this has preserved our ubuntu as a people, one of the lingering cultures — female circumcision — has generated so much heated debate the world over.
In recent years, male circumcision has been endorsed as a way of reducing the chances of HIV transmission.
But when it comes to women, the practice, which is termed Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), has been condemned due to its effects on the girl child. Most African countries have stopped conducting female circumcision. Sadly Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, have been under the spotlight for maintaining it.
In particular, Somalia has been circumcising every girl as per the Somali culture. A call by one Somali young woman, Aisha Abdulaahi, caught this writer’s attention and hopefully the message will get to the Somali people.
Abdulaahi is now based in Lusaka, Zambia and urges all African countries that are still practicing female genital mutilation to stop it immediately as the continent marks 52 years of African Unity on May 25.
“I am calling on all African countries including my own country Somalia where female circumcision is still rife to stop it forthwith so that we celebrate Africa Day in totality as one people with common agendas as well as cultures that are acceptable and advanced,’’ said Aisha in a touching .
Aisha said while the practice could be viewed as an accepted concept in her culture, it was a culture that all level-headed Africans should call off.
Why does she think so?
Having been circumcised herself at the age of five, the 20-year-old Aisha says the practice is barbaric. And to reveal this, she narrates how it is conducted. “This exercise is carried out by elderly village women,’’ she said.
She said the elderly women usually visit households within their respective areas to identify young girls between the ages of five and 10.
“They get to a home and ask if the girls have already been circumcised. If not they start their work with the family having no say in the operation,’’ she said.
Armed with their sharp knives and razor blades, the women call the girls one by one. The ‘patient’ lies down for the operation and is not given any sedatives. Her clitoris is quickly cut off using the sharp razor blade, taking her womanhood away.
She is immediately stitched with a needle and twine, leaving a very small passage for urine. The wound is then covered with flour dour to ‘stop the bleeding.’ “The patient is left in pain as there is no medication for the wound. It takes between three to four months for the wound to heal. In the meantime, the girl remains at home,’’ Aisha painfully narrated.
During that period the victim is not able visit the toilet to relieve herself. A hole is therefore dug, she is made to use that until her wound heals.
“So many girls have died during this operation as their bleeding could not stop. Others contracted infections,’’ she lamented sadly.
And it doesn’t end there.
When the girl starts menstruating, her mother has to take her to a doctor to have one stich removed to allow blood to flow out.
“Removing that stitch is still painful. Besides, the opening left is just too small for the blood. Every time you start your menstruation the pain comes back,’’ said Aisha as she relieved her permanent pain. Finally, when the girl is married, her husband has the obligation of taking her to a doctor to have all the stitches removed so that they start having sexual intercourse.
‘‘When you get married you stay for more than three months without having sex because you will still be healing after the removal of those stitches at the hospital,’’ she said.
But what is the reason behind this female circumcision?
“Well it is an ancestors’ belief that every girl must be circumcised to reduce her sexual feelings. By so doing the girl child cannot engage in prostitution because her libido is so low. As such, the culture dictates that all Somali men must marry a Somali circumcised girl.
“It is also a sign that the girl is a virgin as it is only the husband who takes his wife to have those stitches removed so that they have sex for the first time. If one is not stitched it is a sign that she is not a virgin,’’ Aisha explained.
Aisha emphasised that the pain that the girls have to endure during the whole process is unbearable.
“I experienced it first hand, it is painful. I am telling this generation to stop this barbaric culture,’’ she pleaded.
She said that the worst part was that the abuse was being perpetrated by other women on the innocent girls. Worse still, in cases where a girl was not circumcised, she would be humiliated by her colleagues, especially at school.
Aisha highlighted that a circumcised woman does not enjoy sex.
“Those who are married just engage in sex to bear children.”
While Somali women find it difficult to marry non-Somali men due to this embarrassing culture, their male counterparts marry other nationals freely. And Aisha pointed out that trends are starting to show that the Somali men actually prefer the uncircumcised women.
Meanwhile, calls against FGM are mounting from the international community and the Somali government seems to be warming to the idea.
“I am happy that recently, our government warned perpetrators of this practice against conducting it. In fact, there are now laws against female circumcision and the crime now attracts a lengthy prison term. Communities have been encouraged to report such cases,” she said with hope gleaming in her eyes.
