Girls disappearing from school due to FGM

BY DAVID MAFABI
BUKWO. Ms Violet Kisa, a 22-year-old girl from Riwo sub-county in Riwo village in Bukwo district has seen at first hand the devastating consequences of FGM, cutting girls' education short.

She was cut aged 15 and forced into marriage by parents soon after undergoing Female Genital Mutilation. She deeply regrets it, and that her education was brought to a halt.

 “Maybe I would be a doctor, an accountant or a teacher, I could have been professional,” she told Daily Monitor.

In Kapchorwa, Kween, Bukwo, Amudat and Moroto when children return to the classroom early next month [February] for the start of another academic year, some faces will almost certainly be missing - the faces of girls.

The girls will be absent not by choice, not because they don't want to study but because during the holidays [December 2016] they underwent FGM.

Ms Kisa who is a peasant farmer and lives in Bukwo, a part of Sebei sub-region where according to the NGO; Law and advocacy for Women in Uganda [Law-Uganda] up to 65 percent of girls endure FGM.

The practice entails cutting a girl's clitoris and labia, which is traditionally considered as a rite of passage into womanhood and once a girl is cut the countdown to early marriage and pregnancy begins.

Law-Uganda is a non-government organization whose mission is to use the law to advance the rights of girl-child and women and also promote gender equality, labour equality. The organization works with ministry of Gender, labour and social development, UNFPA-UNICEF.

Ms Kisa says that FGM has been a great disaster in her community because it has denied girls dignity, abused their rights interfered with the development of the community.

She said every year she watches with concern as the number of pre-teen girls in school dwindles and that when the 2017 first academic term starts next year, the number of girls aged 12 to 15 will not return to school.

"They will have undergone FGM, they will just disappear after FGM because parents will force them into marriage, and they will just disappear. They will get married as teens and their lives just go like that," said Ms Kisa.

Rev Fred Kiprop of Sebei diocese says that he recalls how a girl from his Kapkworos, his village was due to become the first female to go to a secondary school in 1986 but that her dreams were dashed after she was forced to undergo FGM.

“And after FGM, the young girl then about 14 was forced into marriage by the parents, got children whom the husband could not look after and she now makes a living by digging other peoples gardens to support her family,” said Rev Kiprop.

He urges teenage male students to tell their parents and community members about the negative effects of FGM and the value of sending their daughters, as well as their sons, to school.

Not alone
Ms Kisa’s life story may be depressing, but she is not alone. The now 22 year old is one of the many teenage mothers in Sebei sub-region who have undergone FGM and been forced into marriage at teenage.

Although UNFPA estimates that less than 1% of Uganda’s population practices FGM/C, the practice is widespread in the east- and northeastern communities; the Pokot and Sabiny peoples, where above 95% and above 60% of the women respectively, are compelled to undergo FGM/C. It is also reportedly widely practiced among the Tepeth in Moroto.

FGM

The Arch-Bishop of Church of Uganda while flagging off a Marathon to eliminate FGM in Sebei sub-region said FGM is not only de-humanising to women and the girl-child but is also brutal, inflicts permanent injuries and poses a great danger to girls and their children during child birth.

The arch-bishop Ntagali, who was the chief runner said although it is true that government passed the 2010 Act against FGM, it is not doing enough to ensure the law in implemented to have the perpetrators arrested and prosecuted.

He said although Sebei sub-region has very many girls with talent and creativity, FGM, violence, discrimination and the lack of equal opportunities serve to thwart the dreams and potential of many of them.

“I am calling upon all political and religious leaders in Bukwo, Kapchorwa and Kween districts to come out boldly and join the fight against FGM if it is to bear fruits of restoring dignity of girl-child and women,” said Arch Bishop Ntagali.

Reffering to the international and national instruments to address FGM, the officer in charge of UNFPA country office Dr Eric Akinele said it is possible to give up FGM without giving up the meaningful, positive aspects of the Sabiny culture.

Dr Akinyele pledged UNFPA’s continued support in the fight to end FGM: “We shall continue the fight together with UNICEF under the programme on FGM funded by governments of Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Norway, Luxemburg, Sweden and the United kingdom,”

He added “We shall ensure the enactment and enforcement of supportive legislation; FGM A, FGM regulations and FGM guidelines to end this practice,” said Dr Akinyele.

He explained that ending FGM is a complex process that requires behavioral change in negative social norms of society.

Dr Akinyele called for adequate resource allocation to end FGM, law and order sector to take necessary measures to prevent FGM, encouragement of communities, educational institutions and the media to join the fight and governments to consider the fight against FGM as a regional fight to end cross border cutting of girls.

The executive director Law-Uganda, Mrs Dora Byamukama said although there are positive results in implementation of the law that prohibits FGM [2010 Act], the practice still persists in less educated homes, in the bushes, caves, isolated places and across the borders in Kenya through porous border points.

“We are holding talks at East African Community level to come up with a law on FGM and how it can be implemented. And since it is taking place in Kenya and Uganda, we are asking governments in East African region to classify it as a cross border crime,” said Mrs Byamukama.

She named Tugumo, Kwot, Benet, Kaptanya, Girik, Kwanyiny and Ngenge as the hot spot areas where the culture of FGM is still persisting due to low levels of Education for girl-child.

She said FGM or cutting (FGM/C) not only subjects girls and women to excruciating pain, often at the hands of cutters in non-sterile conditions, but also poses serious, long-term sexual and reproductive health consequences for the survivors.

The UN women magazine 2015 report dated Oct 11, a global champion for gender equality, working to develop and uphold standards and create an environment in which every woman and girl can exercise her human rights and live up to her full potential says there are over 700 million women alive today who were married before the age of 18- and that more than two thirds were married before 15 years.

UNFPA estimates that 120 to 140 million women worldwide are subjected to FGM/C, with three million girls in Africa continue to be at risk each year and that each day 47,700 girls are derailed.

The UN women report says that FGM is one of the things standing in the way of girls’ progress and early and forced marriages.

The report says one in three girls in developing countries gets married before they turn 18 and that they usually miss out on education, are more vulnerable to physical and sexual violence, and bear children before they are physically or emotionally prepared.

“The cycle of violence that begins in girlhood, carries over into womanhood and across generations. The 2030 Agenda must address their needs and unlock their potential,” reads the report in part.

Effects of FGM
The Kapchorwa DHO Dr Michael Muwanga said among the salient issues cited as effects of FGM are that; FGM poses a serious threat to the health of women and girls, increasing vulnerability to HIV, raising the risk of maternal and infant mortality and harming psychological, sexual and reproductive health, severe pain, hemorrhage, tetanus infections, cysts and urinary inconvenience. Ends