As female genital mutilation (FGM) in Ethiopia lingers, a community-led approach against the practice is crucial to ending it.
Development Diaries reports that the failings of the Ethiopian government in women’s and girls’ protection have led young women in the country’s Sidama region to strongly advocate for communities free from the harmful practice.
It is disheartening that FGM is being practised across all regions, religions, and ethnic groups in Ethiopia. The practice among women aged 15 to 49 years is more prevalent.
We understand that the practice is more common in the Somali and Afar regions (99 percent and 91 percent, respectively) and lowest in the Tigray and Gambella regions (24 percent and 33 percent, respectively), according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Despite the country blacklisting the practice as a violation of human rights and including it as a punishable offence in the criminal code since 2004, religious and traditional beliefs have sustained the practice across regions.
In Sidama, young women are using their experiences to fight against the practice, educating their families in the process as they also become advocates to bring about change so that others can learn from their mistakes.
‘It sounds easy and simple to go through FGM, but when you hear about the consequences, it’s very difficult. I don’t have to experience it to understand the pain’, said Beliyu, one of the young women leading the advocacy for change.
The shame and trauma of the practice often linger with the victims for a long time, yet in the face of these challenges, FGM survivors show strength and resilience by reclaiming their voices and advocating for a world free of harmful practices.
Development Diaries calls on the government of Ethiopia to ensure that everyone found guilty of this harmful practice is prosecuted in line with applicable law.
The Ministry of Health should work with community leaders and community-based organisations to implement a sensitisation programme that educates the public on the life-long dangers associated with the harmful practice of FGM.
Source: Spotlight Initiative
Photo source: UNICEF/Mulugeta Ayene
