FGM: Ebonyi Collaborating With UNICEF, NGWF To Criminalize Practice - Nwifuru's Wife.
The wife of Ebonyi state Governor, Mary-Maudline Uzoamaka Nwifuru said the state government is collaborating with UNICEF and the Nigeria Governor's Wives forum to enact and enforce laws to criminalize Female Genital cutting and Mutilation.
Mrs Nwifuru disclosed this Tuesday, in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital.
The statement was contained in her address during a sensitization road walk/rally to commemorate the International Day Of Zero Tolerance for FGM in the state.
The event was organised by the office of the wife of the Governor, in collaboration with the State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.
The Governor's wife, represented by the State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Felicia Nwamkpuma, said FGM could lead to death, adding that it has adverse physical, emotional and psychological effect on survivors.
Nwifuru noted that criminalizing the practice through a legal instrument would ensure that perpetrators are adequately punished.
She called on all stakeholders and partners to unite in the fight to totally eradicate the practice in the state, assuring that her office, together with her organisation, Better Health for Rural Women, Children and Internally Displaced Foundation (BERWO) was ever ready to offer the needed assistance at all times.
Nwifuru said: "While awareness and community engagement are vital, legal and policy measures play a significant role.
"Government of Ebonyi state, the Nigeria first ladies forum with UNICEF are working, collaborating to enact and enforce laws that criminalize FGM to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable.
"This day, we also extend our support to survivors of FGM.
"These individuals face unimaginable challenges.
"BERWO foundation provides support services, including healthcare, Counselling and legal assistance.
"We are readily available for those who have undergone or at the risk of FGM."
Interacting with journalists, a medical doctor and the president, Medical Women Association of Nigeria, Lillian Nwobashi, described FGM as any act of cutting, numbing or distorting the genitalia of a girl or woman for non medical reasons.
She stressed that FGM is of no value to any woman, but has total negative health consequences.
She enumerated some of its bad effects to include excessive bleeding which could lead to death; painful intercourse, prolonged labour which could lead to death of mother or child; infections and frigidity; keloid or scar tissues that can close the vulva opening, among others.
Nwobashi added: "In fact, there is this issue of a man that brought back his new wife because there was no genital opening for him to have intercourse with the wife.
"So, there is nothing positive about FGM, only negative outcomes."
The state coordinator, Ebonyi State Gender-based Violence Taskforce, Barr Mrs Faithvin Nwanchor, in her response, said FGM constitutes a significant component of gender-based violence because it assaults the rights and dignity girls and women.
He noted that FGM is part of the practices enshrined in the Ebonyi State Violence Against Persons and other Related Matters Prohibition Law, otherwise known as VAPP Law.
Nwanchor, also the Head of Department, Special Assault and Gender based response department of the state Ministry of Justice, emphasized that female genital organ has been well structured by nature, describing any form of mutilation as criminal assault on the woman's natural makeup.
She noted that the GBV Taskforce's saturated campaign against the practice and other forms of gender-based violence across the State has been yielding positive results, pledging that the taskforce will not relent until the practice is totally stopped in the state.
Meanwhile, an FGM survivor who spoke to newsmen, Mrs Paulina Nwagu advised mothers never to perform or encourage the performance of FGM on their female children.
Nwagu who is the chairperson of "Oganiru Umunwanyi Cooperative Society", an organisation for the advancement of the cause of survivors in the State, said FGM experiences were problematic and traumatizing.
She explained that their organisation was birthed after a training they received from the United Nations, adding that since then, they have banded together in Campaigns, especially to the rural communities to discourage the practice.
"The former administration inaugurated us in 2022, and we went into the villages and started advocating and telling them the negative effects of FGM" Nwagu explained.
The 2024 International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM was observed Tuesday, February 6, with the theme "Her Voice, Her Future."
The mega road walk was attended by over 200 NGOs and CSOs; The Christian Association of Nigeria and other Faith Based Organizations; women and youth groups, security agencies and the media, among others.