THE EFFECT OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN OKPARA INLAND, ETHIOPE EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF DELTA STATE

CHAPTER ONE

1.0  INTRODUCTION

1.1  BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Girls and women, all over the world are subjected to a number of traditional practices that are not only harmful to them but also dehumanizing and relegates them to the background. Related to “harmful traditional practice” is the concept of “female genital mutilation”. The fact is that female genital mutilation is a major public health issue in the world.

It is frequently referred to as female circumcision. UNESCO and other scholars disagree with this comparison. To them, this is misleading. Circumcision is an inappropriate word to describe what women go through as circumcision is only applicable to male genitals. In the case of women, it is excision, genital mutilation or clitodectomy. UNESCO had earlier on drawn attention to the process of circumcision of male and female and asserted firmly that the two processes are not one and the same. For the women, the procedure is far more “invasive and dangerous” and has many different variations.

World Health Organization (WHO, 1995) defined FGM as a procedure which involves partial or total removal of the female external genitalia and/or injury to the female genital organs for cultural or any other non-therapeutic reasons. American Academy of Pediatrics (1998) regarded FGM as a traditional custom of ritual cutting and alteration of the genitalia of female infants, girls, adolescents and adults in some cultures. FGM involves surgical procedure performed mostly by traditional (unqualified) health personnel, usually in an unclean environment, and with crude unsterile instruments (Jordan, 1994).

It is estimated that about 115-130 million women worldwide have undergone the procedure, UNESCO (1997). According to World Health Organization (WHO, 1995), female genital mutilation is practiced in one form or the other in about 40 countries mostly in East and West Africa and parts of the Arabian Peninsula. The practice as a result of migration has spread to Europe and North America. Female genital mutilation is a deep-rooted practice in Nigeria and it is well celebrated in some countries.

In Nigeria, it is practiced mostly in the South although, some Northern states are involved. Studies revealed that south-south zone has the highest prevalence rate of 77% of females aged 15 plus, Hodges (2001: 197).

Female genital mutilation has been identified as one of the exuberant ritual ceremonies of Urhobo cultural practices which is as old as Okpara Inland community. Despite the fact that it has gained extensive popularity for which the Urhobo people are particularly proud for its aesthetics, it is doubtful that much documentary work has been done. However, it has enjoyed wide publicity.

In context, the eyanvwe (circumcision) as used in Okpara Inland is a social-cultural institution of significance in the life of the average Urhobo woman in Okpara Inland.

Literally, it is identified with the symbol of radiant appellation of which a girl acquires by virtue of her beautiful qualities which include, among others, respect for elders, both within and outside the home (which perhaps endears her to her parents, relations and everybody in the community overtime).

Consequently, there are immediate and long term health problems associated with FGM (WHO, 1995). The occurrence and severity of health complications vary according to the type and extent of the procedure, the skill of the operator, the cleanliness of the tools, the environment, and the physical condition of the girl or woman undergoing the procedure (WHO, 1998). Immediate health complications include: hemorrhage, severe pain, shock, acute urine retention, ulceration of the genital region, injury to the adjacent tissue and organs, and fracture or dislocation, usually resulting from resistance by the victim (Toubia, 1994; WHO, 1998; Mordi, 2003).

THE EFFECT OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN OKPARA INLAND, ETHIOPE EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF DELTA STATE (GUIDANCE AND COUNSELLING PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)