The FGM,  a national and international issue

In 2013, the number of women and girls who had suffered from the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Ireland had almost double. Thanks to public datas we know that 5790 women have been mutilated in 2016, against 3780 in 2013. It means that this practice increased by 53%. According to the UNICEF, this act is considered as an illegal interference to the International Human Rights and it is forbidden in the entire world. But it is still practiced in 30 countries. Despite of the Criminal Justice FGM Act of 2012, young girls are still cut illegally in the UK. Under Ifrah Ahmed’s momentum, a Somalian migrant who became Irish 12 years ago, Michael D. Higgins, the current President and Mr. Joe Costello, Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, this law bans FGM. It also bans the fact of sending Irish girls to their home countries in order to cut them. Ifrah said to the Irish Times in 2012, « right from the beginning, Mr Costello was very supportive of our causes. He would often attend our events as a guest speaker. Mr Higgins has equally supported our efforts ». But this does not stop some heinous doctors to do it in the UK. They expose themselves to a 10,000€ fine and 14 years of jail. Despite of these threats, a lot of practitioners do not hesitate to make families pay 200£ in UK to cut these girls (who are mostly not at the age of majority) under the name of cultural believes and superstitions.

A cultural, not a religious act 

The cutting comes from the East of Africa and Middle East. There are four types of cutting. But it is in Egypt that it is the most destructive one. It consists « not only » in doing a clitoris removal in order to eliminate any form of pleasure but also in closing all the lips. The healthy problems which happen after the FGM are going beyond the physical pain. On top of the horrible pain during the menstruations, the lack of hygiene leads to genital infections, difficulty to go to the toilets and there is an important risk of dying during the pregnancy, but the psychological sequela is the most important. Many women suffer from the fear of knives or can not bear the feeling of a men behind them. Mrs Ngozi Oleru, a Nigerian bank worker speaks from the bottom of her heart : « There was this phobia I had; fear of knives, fear of anything touching my clitoris, and worse I had fears for my life when I went in for labour to deliver my babies ». She says that she is « lucky to be alive when [she] was cut though ». For instance, around 98% of girls are cut in Somalia, 97% in Guinea and 90% in Sierra Leone. The reasons of this mutilation are multiples. The more recurring is the purification of the child in order to go through the childhood to the womanhood. The need to found a proper husband is so important that women who are not cut will not be married. And in countries in which the patriarchy is important, women’s voices are almost nonexistent. As we could think, it is not the religion but the belief which are at heart of this issue. In Kenya, it is said that a girl who is not cut would not be marriageable and would not be able to give birth.

Help those women in Europe

When those African women arrive in Europe, they are face to face with people who can not treat them. On top of the nurses’ training about the FGM issue which was given by Ifrah in 2011, a lot of associations organize workshops or call centers in order to help women rebuilding themselves. The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) offers counseling services and a medical treatment. This surgery act consists in rebuild the genitalia. All of these services are free for women who are  volunteers. Alison Spillane, the policy officer of the IFPA in Dublin explains that with the help of Akidwa (an Irish association which fights against FGM), « more and more women come to talk about the FGM and want to be helped ». In their two clinics, 50 women have been treated after a cut for three years and a half.

Akidwa is also the collaborator of ActionAid Ireland. The goal, from 2016 until this year, was to give workshops about the discovering of the human body and especially the women’s body and also meetings to discuss about sexuality between women and men. This initiative helps making, men and women who attend workshops, respect each other privacy, the importance of the sexuality and the body’s appropriating. All these efforts are part of the project « the Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) programme of the European Union which also works in Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. The Irish program called « AFTER Project » was based in Cork during two years. Men could take part of this campaign thanks to the 12 workshops which were dedicated to them. Let’s remind that women do the « surgery act » when they cut girls but it is men and the strength of the patriarchy which exert a hold on minds where the mutilation is made. Triona Pender, the Head of Program ActionAid Ireland said that « men encouraged the FGM even if they know how painful it is ». Despite of the huge efforts of the associations, the fight against the FGM in Ireland is far from being won. While the number of women who have been cut increases, the associations need important people in the civil life to make these women’s voice be heard.