Female circumcision in Sebei on the rise â€" study
Nov 18, 2007
DESPITE the campaigns in the early 1990s calling for the ban of female circumcision, the practice is still entrenched in Kapchorwa and Bukwo districts and both men and women are in favour of continuing with it. This was revealed in a 2006-2007 research carried out to assess the progress in fighting
By Frederick Weduku Womakuyu
DESPITE the campaigns in the early 1990s calling for the ban of female circumcision, the practice is still entrenched in Kapchorwa and Bukwo districts and both men and women are in favour of continuing with it. This was revealed in a 2006-2007 research carried out to assess the progress in fighting against the vice.
Asma Siraj Dareer of the Department of Community Medicine in George Washington University, USA, carried out the Epidemiological study among 1,500 women and 1,000 men, most of them illiterate, in Suam, Ngenge, Binyinya, Kabuyoyoni, Tingey and Bennet. Epidemiology is the study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations.
Although the practice is not widely-spread, nearly 50% of the women interviewed were circumcised. There were also noticeable differences in the form of circumcision different women underwent.
Older women as well as rural women tended to choose the more extreme form of circumcision for their daughters, while the younger women, especially in urban areas, preferred the less extreme Sunna circumcision.
In a new development, the survey reveals that educated young women are going to midwives in health facilities for circumcision. The latter administer anaesthesia and antibiotics and use scissors. Traditional birth attendants use knives or razors.
One nurse who talked to The New Vision on condition of anonymity said: “We are paid peanuts and in order to increase our income, we have to rely on our customers who want to be circumcised.
How do you expect us to take our children to school or put food on the table? The Government should pay us well and we shall abandon the practice. But even if this is done, as long as these women come to us, we shall do our job.â€
The survey also reveals some instances where migration has introduced female circumcision among people who had not practiced it before. For example, the Ndorobo and Sabooti ethnic groups who do not normally circumcise women adopted the practice when they moved to suam and Kapchorwa.
Another trend has emerged in urban areas, especially among the educated young women; the practice of being forced by their parents to carry out “re-circumcisionâ€.
The study reveals that these women undergo ‘re-circumcision’ after they have given birth, if they have problems of urine retention or experience problems in sexual intercourse. This practice is comparatively rare in rural areas.
The spread of the practice in urban areas seems to have coincided with an increase in the numbers of midwives practising it illegally to earn an income, says the researcher.
Dareer recommends that alternative, legitimate ways should be found to increase the income of midwives’ in these areas. Her study also reveals the harmful effects of female circumcision including urinary-tract infections, chronic pelvic infections and painful sexual intercourse.
Mary Chemutai, 21, says in the course and aftermath of circumcision, she experienced severe bleeding and pain. “I bled profusely on the first day and decided to visit a nurse who prescribed Panadol. This did not stop the bleeding, so I went to a traditional healer, who gave me herbs.
They worked and I felt better. I had refused to be circumcised, but my parents forced me. By then, I was 15 years and could not rebel against them.â€
According to the respondents, traditional beliefs and culture are the main reasons for continuing with the practice.
The men claim the practice was to prevent unfaithful women from cheating on their husbands when they were hunting.
Men’s double standards
Seventy-five percent of the men surveyed said they did not interfere with the practice because they regarded it a “woman’s affair.†Nevertheless, the majority approved of its continuation, saying it would reduce sexual promiscuity among women and give them greater sexual satisfaction.
As for the women, many claim parent and partner approval was one of the major reasons they were circumcised.
Reacting to the revelations, Gertrude Kulany, the former Woman Mp for Kapchorwa, says: “People have taken advantage of the vacuum left by human rights groups against female circumcision.
Our earlier campaigns registered a lot of success with a drastic decline. I am sure female circumcision is being practiced behind closed doors and will end when government steps up the campaign again,†she adds.
According to Kulany, a massive awareness and education programme was carried out in the early 1990s, in schools, churches and communal areas to outlaw the vice. Although the study indicates an increase in the practice, it is dominant among illiterates.
Rose Magezi, a senior official at the Ministry of Gender, says ‘re-circumcision in urban areas is a new phenomenon and needs to be tackled tactfully.
She says the Government will collaborate with stake holders and opinion leaders to eradicate the practice, adding that the practice is being done on a small scale and behind closed doors.
Forms of FGM
Type 1: Clitordectomy involves the cutting off of the “hood†(and occasionally the clitoris. This procedure is one of the less severe procedures of FGM. This is also sometimes referred to as Sunna circumcision. Sunna in Arabic means “traditionâ€.
Type 2: In type 2 FGM, the clitoris is removed and so is part or the whole of the labia minora.
Type 3: It is one of the most severe forms of female genital mutilation. The clitoris, labia minora, and part of the labia majora are completely removed. The vagina opening is stitched and closed until the girl’s husband has intercourse with her.
A small opening is kept within the healing scar tissue by inserting a small piece of wood or a matchstick so that urine and menstrual blood may pass. The girl is then bound from her hip to her ankle for 40 days so that scar forms.
This type is also referred to as Pharaonic circumcision.
Type 4: Also referred to as unclassified, it includes anything from piercing, stretching and pricking the vagina to burning the clitoris and its surrounding tissues.
Adopted from online sources
DESPITE the campaigns in the early 1990s calling for the ban of female circumcision, the practice is still entrenched in Kapchorwa and Bukwo districts and both men and women are in favour of continuing with it. This was revealed in a 2006-2007 research carried out to assess the progress in fighting against the vice.
Asma Siraj Dareer of the Department of Community Medicine in George Washington University, USA, carried out the Epidemiological study among 1,500 women and 1,000 men, most of them illiterate, in Suam, Ngenge, Binyinya, Kabuyoyoni, Tingey and Bennet. Epidemiology is the study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations.
Although the practice is not widely-spread, nearly 50% of the women interviewed were circumcised. There were also noticeable differences in the form of circumcision different women underwent.
Older women as well as rural women tended to choose the more extreme form of circumcision for their daughters, while the younger women, especially in urban areas, preferred the less extreme Sunna circumcision.
In a new development, the survey reveals that educated young women are going to midwives in health facilities for circumcision. The latter administer anaesthesia and antibiotics and use scissors. Traditional birth attendants use knives or razors.
One nurse who talked to The New Vision on condition of anonymity said: “We are paid peanuts and in order to increase our income, we have to rely on our customers who want to be circumcised.
How do you expect us to take our children to school or put food on the table? The Government should pay us well and we shall abandon the practice. But even if this is done, as long as these women come to us, we shall do our job.â€
The survey also reveals some instances where migration has introduced female circumcision among people who had not practiced it before. For example, the Ndorobo and Sabooti ethnic groups who do not normally circumcise women adopted the practice when they moved to suam and Kapchorwa.
Another trend has emerged in urban areas, especially among the educated young women; the practice of being forced by their parents to carry out “re-circumcisionâ€.
The study reveals that these women undergo ‘re-circumcision’ after they have given birth, if they have problems of urine retention or experience problems in sexual intercourse. This practice is comparatively rare in rural areas.
The spread of the practice in urban areas seems to have coincided with an increase in the numbers of midwives practising it illegally to earn an income, says the researcher.
Dareer recommends that alternative, legitimate ways should be found to increase the income of midwives’ in these areas. Her study also reveals the harmful effects of female circumcision including urinary-tract infections, chronic pelvic infections and painful sexual intercourse.
Mary Chemutai, 21, says in the course and aftermath of circumcision, she experienced severe bleeding and pain. “I bled profusely on the first day and decided to visit a nurse who prescribed Panadol. This did not stop the bleeding, so I went to a traditional healer, who gave me herbs.
They worked and I felt better. I had refused to be circumcised, but my parents forced me. By then, I was 15 years and could not rebel against them.â€
According to the respondents, traditional beliefs and culture are the main reasons for continuing with the practice.
The men claim the practice was to prevent unfaithful women from cheating on their husbands when they were hunting.
Men’s double standards
Seventy-five percent of the men surveyed said they did not interfere with the practice because they regarded it a “woman’s affair.†Nevertheless, the majority approved of its continuation, saying it would reduce sexual promiscuity among women and give them greater sexual satisfaction.
As for the women, many claim parent and partner approval was one of the major reasons they were circumcised.
Reacting to the revelations, Gertrude Kulany, the former Woman Mp for Kapchorwa, says: “People have taken advantage of the vacuum left by human rights groups against female circumcision.
Our earlier campaigns registered a lot of success with a drastic decline. I am sure female circumcision is being practiced behind closed doors and will end when government steps up the campaign again,†she adds.
According to Kulany, a massive awareness and education programme was carried out in the early 1990s, in schools, churches and communal areas to outlaw the vice. Although the study indicates an increase in the practice, it is dominant among illiterates.
Rose Magezi, a senior official at the Ministry of Gender, says ‘re-circumcision in urban areas is a new phenomenon and needs to be tackled tactfully.
She says the Government will collaborate with stake holders and opinion leaders to eradicate the practice, adding that the practice is being done on a small scale and behind closed doors.
Forms of FGM
Type 1: Clitordectomy involves the cutting off of the “hood†(and occasionally the clitoris. This procedure is one of the less severe procedures of FGM. This is also sometimes referred to as Sunna circumcision. Sunna in Arabic means “traditionâ€.
Type 2: In type 2 FGM, the clitoris is removed and so is part or the whole of the labia minora.
Type 3: It is one of the most severe forms of female genital mutilation. The clitoris, labia minora, and part of the labia majora are completely removed. The vagina opening is stitched and closed until the girl’s husband has intercourse with her.
A small opening is kept within the healing scar tissue by inserting a small piece of wood or a matchstick so that urine and menstrual blood may pass. The girl is then bound from her hip to her ankle for 40 days so that scar forms.
This type is also referred to as Pharaonic circumcision.
Type 4: Also referred to as unclassified, it includes anything from piercing, stretching and pricking the vagina to burning the clitoris and its surrounding tissues.
Adopted from online sources