Ekiti Mulls Prosecution of Medical Workers for Aiding Female Genital Mutilation

Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti

The Ekiti State Government has revealed its resolve to arrest and prosecute any medical worker found sabotaging its war against female genital mutilation (FGM) practice in the state .

Coordinator, Ekiti State Reproductive Maternal and Child Health, Mrs Olukemi Akinleye issued the threat yesterday at a workshop organised by Hacey Health Initiative for health  educators from four local government areas of the state.

Addressing the participants, Akinleye said the threat became imperative following reports from some councils that some health workers are still engaging in FGM contrary to the  directive of the state government.

She said FGM had been criminalised with the 2021 promulgated Gender Based Violence Prohibition Law, which according to her, outlawed the practice and indicated jail terms for flouters.

She said: “We have listened to some of the reports the focal persons /health educators brought to the effect that some medical workers are still engaging in FGM to get money. Just try and get their identities, they will face the consequences.

“The state’s GBV law prohibits FGM. It is now a criminal offence and we expect medical workers to be vanguards of the struggle to rid Ekiti of this practice.

“As contained in the GBV law, whoever apprehended among them will be arrested and prosecuted accordingly, nobody will be spared for breaching the law.”

Akinleye appealed to the focal persons  to continue aggressive mobilisation and education of  the people at the grassroots against the practice of mutilating female genitals to safeguard the lives of the children.

Expressing worries over increasing FGM in the country, the Executive Director, Hacey Health Initiative, Rhoda Robinson described  the practice as a flagrant violation of human rights.

Robinson regretted  that many of the girls, who underwent FGM had gone through the traumas of severe pain, shock, excessive bleeding, infections, and difficulty in passing urine, as well as sexual ,reproductive and mental health problems.

“FGM practice comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal or injury of the female genitalia for non-medical reasons and is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights, the health and the integrity of girls and women.

“To promote the elimination of FGM, coordinated and systematic efforts are needed, and they must engage whole communities and focus on human rights, gender equality, sexual education and attention to the needs of women and girls who suffer from its consequences.

“This workshop is tended toward  increasing and equipping the  focal persons’  knowledge on FGM, dangers of FGM, and available laws and policies against it,” the executive director said.