Daniel Benno Msangya
Nairobi

May 14, 2001

Female genital mutilation is a deeply rooted harmful traditional rite practised in many parts of Africa where it is commonly referred to as female circumcision. In Tanzania, for example, it is commonly practised in ten regions while in such countries as Eritrea, the practice is even more widespread. But what are its social justifications?

According to the Gogo ethnic group in Central Tanzania, the largest and most populous East African country, female circumcision is considered to enhance the cultural values of the communities practising it.

"(The practice) is highly regarded as a rite of passage for girls into womanhood, grooming and training of cultural values that maintain domestic stability within the community," explains Nyangadule Kodi, a 78-year-old woman circumciser and resident of Mundemu Village in Dodoma Rural District.

The traditional circumciser further explains that a girl who is not circumcised has no right to associate with her age mates and has diminished prospects for getting a husband, a traumatising situation indeed.

The circumciser or muhunga (in Gogo language) uses a knife they call icheto to operate a group of girls ranging between five to twenty years in age depending on the situation.

The operation takes about 15 to 20 minutes depending on the sharpness of the muhunga, says Nyangadule, adding that female circumcision among the Gogo is conducted by praise songs eulogising the parts removed, "and for the recognition of the bravery of the girls submitting themselves to the ritual.

The songs are expected to serve as an encouragement for the young girls waiting for their turn to be circumcised to remain courageous and get ready for the act, says Nyangadule.

The utmost evidence of beauty in a woman is the fact that she is circumcised. Some men fear social sanctions that could be imposed on them by their respective communities should they marry uncircumcised women. "They had to keep that a secret and find out immediately how they can get their spouses to be circumcised," emphasises Nyangadule.

The Gogo believe that female circumcision promotes social and political cohesion. This can be examined through the circumcision ceremonies - the participation of different people from various clans, the way they socialise and familiarise, "this brings about social solidarity among themselves and it integrates the circumcised girl to her relatives and society at large," said a Councillor of Mnadani Ward in Dodoma Town, Sara Mwenge in anexclusive interview with AANA.

The Gogo community maintain that if female circumcision is eradicated, part of their culture would likewise be eradicated leaving their society bereft of purpose and with nothing to look forward to.

The Gogo demand that the eradication of female circumcision may lead to disharmony and constant conflict within the community, "this is expected to result from absence of specific norms and values they have to bear in mind," explains Sara Mwenge.

Many old women such as Nyangadule still maintain that they would not allow their male relatives to marry uncircumcised women because such women are "not polite and are over-sexed".

The Gogo people perform clitoridectomy, a type of genital mutilation which is practised by various ethnic groups in Africa. According to medical experts it involves the removal of the whole clitoris.

In Gogo rituals, the young girls are operated on outside their homes especially under the mountain or near bushes and rivers.

The Gogo have their perception on the clitoris. "They consider this part as dirty and it is therefore to be removed from the women's genital areas," says Nyagadule. The Gogo believe that due to its dirtiness, it causes a disease known as lawa lawa or peremende (others call it tamtam), an irritation within a woman's genital organs.

But according to professional explanations by gynaecologists, the disease is due to the fact that the female genital organ is so folded that it requires a continuous washing. "Failure to maintain cleanliness causes irritation in the inner parts of female organs," says Dr Zainabu Chaula, a senior medical expert in Dodoma Regional Government Hospital.

According to Chaula, about 600,000 women and girls in Dodoma Region are affected by FGM. Worse still they undergo this compulsive traditional ritual without anaesthetic application to diminish the pain.

The doctor says the girls are usually subjected to torture as they experience severe bleeding, shock, infection, painful intercourse, blockage of menstruation and tearing of tissues and haemorrhaging during childbirth. Others die due to FGM, notes Chaula.

Over 20 countries in Africa perform FGM. But outside the continent, FGM and other forms of female circumcision are performed in mainly the Arab and Middle East countries.

Among those who practise FGM in Tanzania are the Masaai, Iraqw (Mbulu) and Barbaig of Arusha region, the Gogo, Rangi and Sandawi of Dodoma region, the Chaga and Pare of Kilimanjaro region, the Mwera Yao and Makua of Lindi and Mtwara regions.

The others include the Kurya, Ikizu, Simbiti, Rieny, Ugu, Bakabwa, Kine, Natta, Zanaki, Kiroba and Tatiro of Mara region and Nyaturu of Singida region. Other regions include Dar Es Salaam, Morogoro, Tanga and Iringa.

In countries like Eritrea FGM is a ritual which confers social acceptability and integration upon the female. The practice is performed on about 99 percent of the eligible females.

"Without it people become estranged from their own kith and kin and they may lose their right to contribute to or participate in the community life of their homeland, to own property, to vote or to be voted for," explains Azenagosh Ghebreselasie, medical expert in the Ministry of Health from Eritrea who visited Dodoma recently on a study tour.

The cultural causes many significant effects to the majority of populations in Africa and it affects the physical, mental and social life of the women and girls as well as the socio-economic development of the country.

According to Ghebreselasie, Eritrea has one of the highest levels of maternal mortality which is 999 per 100,000 life births. FGM causes 90 percent of the problem because it may lead to trauma to surrounding tissues.

Experts say the vulva of a young girls is very small and there is a tendency for someone who is unskilled in the anatomy and physiology of the area, to cut too much, thereby injuring other nearby tissues such as muscles, the urethra and the rectum. These would have their own attendant complications particularly during delivering of a baby.

However, efforts made by Tanzania government to eradicate FGM has, in effect, intensified the risks. Parents fear the government. They instead authorise secret rituals that cause serious health problems as most of them are now circumcised in their early ages or in infancy.