"All that I am saying is do not cut"

This essay is part of a regular feature on my blog that presents interesting stories from elsewhere in the world, particularly Africa, that are little reported in the American media. It's part of my campaign to get people to realize there is a lot going on in the world outside the US, Israel and Iraq.


While the campaign against the appalling practice female genital mutilation in Africa has made progress in some places, this piece makes clear that the fight is not so easy in other places.

When the president's wife sponsors the circumcision of 1,500 young girls to win votes for her husband, you know you've got a problem persuading ordinary people and the government that female genital mutilation (FGM) is a bad idea.

And when the woman who is now Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Women's Affairs, threatens to "sew up the mouths" of those who preach against FGM, you realise that you are facing a really big uphill struggle.

This is actually somewhat astonishing. While it's not surprising for high-ranking officials to, in practice, give a wink and a nod to FGM, most usually go through the formality of opposing it in words. That overtly defending FGM is seen as a vote winner is quite disturbing.


But that has not dissuaded Olayinka Koso-Thomas, a gynaecologist in Sierra Leone, from campaigning against the practice for 30 years, ignoring death threats and angry protestors storming her clinic.

A crudely performed operation to remove the clitoris from adolescent girls forms a key part of the initiation ceremonies held by powerful, women-only secret societies that prepare young girls for adult life, marriage and motherhood in the West African country, reports the UN's IRIN service.

She explained the difficulties and misunderstandings that often accompany her work.

Koso-Thomas, who came to Sierra Leone from Nigeria, sees nothing wrong with such 'bundu' societies and their initiation ceremonies but, on medical grounds, she and a handful of other women's rights campaigners want the circumcision ritual replaced by something less brutal and hazardous.

"People got me wrong at first. When I was going to the communities and sensitising them, they thought I was against their society," Koso-Thomas told IRIN. "But it is as a doctor that I started campaigning and sensitising people about the health hazards, because I saw all the complications."

"The real meaning of the bundu society is very good," she said. "It is where they train young girls to become women: they teach them how to sing, dance and cook ... girls who don't go to school learn how to use herbs and treat illnesses; they are taught to respect others."

"All that I am saying is, 'Continue with this training, but do not cut.' This is my message," said the gynaecologist who has written a book about the practice of FGM in Sierra Leone.