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A Woman’s Worth
Yesterday was the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
FGM has become a global concern because of the attendant deaths. Then there are the physical struggles and mental scars on girls and women who are lucky to survive the common complications from the crude and unhealthy procedure.
Mutilating a baby girl’s genitals or an older female’s could be the first minus to that Woman’s Worth.
Nigeria is far from the zero prevalence mark, but some subnational governments and other stakeholders are making progress in eradicating FGM through behavioural change communications and legal prohibitions against the practice.
According to Lagos, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Bayelsa, Ogun, Delta, Ebonyi, Oyo, Imo, Edo, Cross River, and Rivers States have laws with varying degrees of deterrence against the act.
Despite the increased education on and prohibitions against the practice, FGM remains prevalent, highlighting the ongoing challenges in enforcement. Top of these challenges is that there is no federal law banning FGM in Nigeria yet.
“The Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act, 2015 (the VAPP Act), which came into force on 25 May 2015, is the first federal law attempting to prohibit FGM across the whole country. The VAPP Act aims to eliminate gender-based violence in private and public life by criminalising and setting out the punishment for acts including rape (but not spousal rape), incest, domestic violence, stalking, harmful traditional practices and FGM.
“The VAPP Act, as a federal law, is only effective in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, and, as such, the remaining states must pass mirroring legislation to prohibit FGM across the country,” a document on the UNHCR website read.
Freedom from Mutilation
In 2022, UNICEF noted that Nigeria accounts for the third highest number of women and girls who have undergone Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) worldwide, with an estimated 19.9 million survivors.
However, the 2018 Nigerian Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) report indicates that the prevalence among women aged 15-49 has decreased since 1999.
Analysis shows that Nigeria recorded the highest prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation in 2008, with 29.6%. This declined from 29.6% in 2008 to 19.5% in 2018.
Will this positive decline continue?
Hopefully. With concerted efforts on the parts of the country and cultures where the crime is prevalent.
According to the Demographic Health Survey 2013, 17% of girls’ genitals were mutilated. There is an equal prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation in both rural and urban areas where 17% of girls have suffer from genital mutilation.
Additionally, FGM is prevalent in households with no form of education with 19% prevalence, compared to 16% and 13% in households with primary and secondary/higher education.
Culturally, the Yorubas have the highest prevalence of female genital mutilation in Nigeria, mutilating 19% of girls born to Yoruba parents.
Prevalence of FGM among young girls, by residence, education of mothers, ethnic group and wealth index (%)
The Hausa ethnic group has the second highest prevalence of 26%, and the Igbo, 18%.
The prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation also varies by social status. The highest prevalence of 20% is seen among the poorest and 13% among the richest.
Freedom of Movement
The assault on a woman’s worth continues with the plundering of their comparatively vulnerable physiques for money.
An analysis of the NBS Statistics on Men and Women in Nigeria shows that more women are trafficked for forced labour and prostitution than men.
Trafficked women, and men, are robbed of their rights to move at their own will away from jobs or places where they are coerced into forced, and oftentimes, hazardous, labour.
Between 2019 and 2021, a larger proportion of women in Nigeria were victims of trafficking than men. In 2021, 1227 women were trafficked. This is the highest in the reviewed years.
Additionally, a larger proportion of victims trafficked for prostitution were women. The number of women trafficked for prostitution in 2022 is 700 compared to only 2 men in the same period.
In 2019, more men were trafficked for forced labour than women, however, the trend in 2020 and 2021 shows women are now trafficked for forced labour than men.
The gender disparity between women and men trafficked across various categories, particularly trafficking for prostitution, raises questions about whether these trends are mere coincidence or indicative of deeper systemic issues.
Human trafficking is a criminal activity that involves the trade and exploitation of individuals for financial gain.
Traffickers employ various methods such as violence, deceitful job offers, and false promises of education to manipulate and exploit their victims.
Freedom of the Mind
The most limiting of all assaults on a woman’s worth is her miseducation to think and act against herself.