LAGOS, Nigeria(VOICE OF NAIJA)-A non-governmental organisation, HACEY says globally, over 200 million women and girls go through mutilation, noting that Nigeria alone accounts for 10 per cent of the total figure.
HACEY recently hosted a Community Gatekeepers Training Workshop in Osogbo, Osun State, on empowering communities to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Programme Manager of the organization, Oluwatomi Olunugan noted that the programme was put together by Hacey in collaboration with Access Corporation.
Tagged ‘Reporting female genital mutilation’, the workshop afforded the community gatekeepers the opportunity to deliberate on how to end female genital mutilation through adequate reporting of the heinous act.
She noted that findings also revealed that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is more common with 32% in the Southeast followed by 30% in the Southwest Nigeria.
She emphasized that the national commonness of FGM among women aged 15 to 49 dropped from 25% to 20% in 2018, but among girls aged 0 to 14, it increased from 16.9% to 19.2%.
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She also mentioned that nearly 3 million women have undergone FGM in states such as Ebonyi, Ekiti, Imo, Osun as well as Oyo. She described FGM as a harmful act against womanhood which should be discouraged.
According to her, three African countries, Gambia, Kenya and Nigeria also hosted the workshop on reporting female genital mutilation (FGM).
In relation to the workshop, the Programme Officer, Tomilola Akinpelu, explained the involvement of stakeholders and community leaders in the move to eradicating female genital mutilation.
Akinpelu stressed that the workshop is a step forward in strengthening the capacity of community leaders and gatekeepers, also educating them on the dangers and legal implications of FGM and also protect women and girls.
Community gatekeepers who attended the workshop suggested the provision of underground informant, protection of the informants identity, and continuous campaign against female genital mutilation, as some of the ways to end the menace.
Other suggested ways are education, spreading of information through religious leadership, opinion leaders, advocacy visit, encouragement and incentive.
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