Nigeria Yields To Pressure To Ban Female Genital Mutilation

Nigeria Camera | Life and Living

In what may be the most remarkable victory for campaigners against female circumcision, Africa's most populous nation, one of several African countries where female cutting is still done, has banned the practice.

Women said they hate the pain arising from Female Genital Mutilation.
(Credit: via Nigeria Camera).

In recent years, campaigners led by outspoken Britons have led the campaign against what is popularly called Femal Genital Mutilation (FMG) in Europe.

Entrenched in most cultures where it is practiced, FMG is defined as "the practice of partially or totally removing the external genitalia of girls and young women for non-medical reasons."

Reasons for this practice vary from one culture to another but is said to include the need to reduce promiscuity in women. But many victims claim it is painful and forces them to develop a phobia for sex.

In a report Tuesday, Nigeria Camera revealed that one of the things President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria did before he left office was to sign the act banning Female Genital Mutilation and criminalizing anyone indulging the practice.

This 2013 version of the bill sets out a maximum punishment of four years in prison and a 200,000 naira (£654.23) fine for carrying out FGM according to BuzzFeed.

Britain has led the campaign against FGM with laws criminalizing its practice. Despite this, prosecution has been very rare.

Britons leading the campaign against FGM include 17 year old Fahma Mohamed from Bristol who led the Guardian campaign against the practice in Frebruary 2014.

Fahma Mohamed led a successful campaign against
FGM. Credit: via Change.Org).

In a video message Fahma Mohamed said: "FGM is illegal in the UK, but not enough people know about it. If every single Head teacher was given the right information to teach FGM not only to the students, but to the parents also, we could reach every single girl who is at risk of FGM. We could convince these families not to send these girls abroad and to help those girls who are at risk."

She urged former Education Secretary to please write to the schools before the summer holidays telling them to train their teachers to teach FGM.  "We won't back down and we won't go away," she said.

An online petition set up by the 17 year old on Change.Org was signed by more than 234,373., with Michael Gove promising to write to all the schools in the UK as requested.

Other celebrities who have supported and openly spoken out against FGM include girl child education campaigner and Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai who survived a gun shot attack on the head unleashed by the Taliban in Pakistan and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.