NGO works to protect girls from genital mutilation
An estimated 4,000 girls in Flanders are under threat of having to undergo a clitoridectomy, otherwise known as female genital mutilation. Plan Belgium is working to prevent the procedure from happening, both here and overseas
A common practice
From a Western point of view, it’s difficult to believe that a practice like female genital mutilation (FGM) still exists today. It’s not restricted to religious extremists but is a common practice in many countries and societies.
The procedure differs according to the ethnic group. Some girls have their clitoral hood, glans or inner labia removed, with or without anaesthetic. In the most extreme form of FGM, both the inner and outer labia are removed and the vulva surgically closed, with the vagina then reopened after marriage for intercourse and childbirth.
Aside from a loss of sexual pleasure, genital mutilation comes with several health risks, including recurrent infections, chronic pain, cysts, an inability to conceive, complications during childbirth and bleeding, which can be fatal.
According to the UN, 3.6 million girls undergo the procedure every year; 140 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to it. Most operations take place in Africa, but the practice is also thriving in parts of Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. In 2003, the UN named 6 February as the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM.
According to statistics from Fedasil and Kind&Gezin, there are 13,000 women in Belgium who have undergone FGM, with no fewer than 4,000 girls expecting to have it done in the coming years.
“It’s a gross violation,” says Anthony Vanoverschelde of Plan Belgium, an NGO that fights for children’s rights in developing countries and at home. “And most of these 4,000 girls who are ‘on the waiting list’ realise this. If they were allowed to choose, these girls would say no to FGM. They wouldn’t defend it as a cultural tradition that has to be preserved and from which their society and family benefit.”
Family shame
But in many immigrant families in Belgium, the girls don’t have a choice. The fact that women, often the grandmothers of the girls, arrange the intervention highlights this. Vanoverschelde: “For these elderly women, the pain, the years of suffering and the lifelong discomfort make no difference in consideration of the social standard to which they have to comply.”
If they were allowed to choose, these girls would definitely say no to FGM
If a girl says no, continues Vanoverschelde, “she will be socially excluded, and she won’t be allowed to marry. Bluntly put: If she says yes, only the woman suffers. If she says no, the shame affects her entire family.”
According to Vanoverschelde, the government could do more to prevent FGM from being carried out among migrant populations here, primarily those from Guinea, Somalia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Mali and Burkina Faso. “Yes, there are campaigns that inform them that FGM is punishable by Belgian law – as is every medical intervention that has no legitimate medical reason. And yes, social workers are trained to recognise risky situations. But campaigning and training social workers is not enough.
In Belgium, FGM is often performed with the assistance of a doula, a kind of midwife who often lacks medical training. Online, migrants can easily find a doula, who assists not only in childbirth but also in FGM. The procedure often happens in secret, hidden from the view of the government.
Making progress
Plan Belgium also works in countries where FGM is endemic. In Mali, the NGO’s collaborators try to convince local people to make their communities FGM-free. “We discuss the issue with religious leaders, with the head of the villages and with health-care workers,” explains Vanoverschelde.
FGM is often the standard, so people can't compare themselves to women who aren’t mutilated
Little by little, he continues, “we chip away at the beliefs and prejudices that lie at the basis of FGM. But there are pitfalls. We cannot assume that these people just understand that there’s no link between FGM and reproductive health, or giving birth to healthy children. That’s because FGM is often the standard in these communities, so people there cannot compare themselves to women who aren’t mutilated.”
In many places in Africa, incredible stories are passed around, making Plan Belgium’s work even harder. Vanoverschelde: “The clitoris is often regarded as a devilish organ, a source of evil for men and newborn babies who come into contact with it.”
But the organisation is beginning to see some success. “After months of discussions, debates and information sessions, people are starting to ban FGM in their villages. This engagement is given extra meaning via ceremonies held on the International Day of Zero Tolerance against FGM.”
Photo: Children in Mali, where, with Plan Belgium, some villages have started to call for an end to FGM
(c) Plan Belgium
