The abduction and intimidation of four women journalists took place in the eastern city of Kenema on 6 February by members of a women’s secret society that practices female genital mutilation (FGM). (Reporters without Borders)One of the journalists was forced to walk naked through the city’s streets. “Such disgraceful behaviour worthy of a bygone age is very damaging to Sierra Leone’s image,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We urge the president to personally intervene in this case to ensure that the perpetrators receive an exemplary punishment. We also urge the minister of social welfare, gender and children’s affairs, Haja Musu Kandeh, to take note of this incident, which is very traumatic for all women in Sierra Leone.”

The four reporters – Manjama Balama-Samba of the United Nations radio and the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS), Henrietta Kpaka of the SLBS, Isha Jalloh of Eastern Radio and Jenneh Brima, also of Eastern Radio – were kidnapped on 6 February by members of Bondo, a secret society that practices FGM. The next day, their abductors forcibly undressed Balama-Samba and made her walk naked through the streets.

The journalists had been conducting a series of interviews jointly with the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices in order to mark International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation, which was celebrated on 6 February for the 5th year running. The Bondo group regarded their questions and comments as a sign of disrespect for their traditions.

According to UN estimates, 94 per cent of women in Sierra Leone have been subjected to FGM. Sources in Sierra Leone put it at more like 65 per cent, partly as a result of the country’s Christians taking a stand against the practice. The government publicly undertook last year to adopt a law banning FGM but has not yet done so.

What?

–Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is the cutting, removal, and sometimes sewing up of external female genitalia for cultural or other nontherapeutic reasons. It can be performed as early as infancy and as late as age 30.

–Most women (80 percent) who undergo this procedure have most or all of their clitoris removed and some or all of the labia minora cut off as well.

–Another 15 percent of women undergo infibulation, the removal of part or all of the external genitalia and the stitching/narrowing of the vaginal opening.

Who?

–An estimated 100 million to 140 million girls and women worldwide have undergone female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and more than 3 million girls are at risk for cutting each year on the African continent alone.
–Practitioners of FGM/C range from traditional healers who use crude instruments without anesthetics to trained providers in health care facilities.

Why not?

–Health consequences differ according to the type and severity of the procedure performed.
Short-term difficulties include severe pain, shock, hemorrhage, urine retention, ulceration of the genital region, and injury to adjacent tissue. Hemorrhage and infection can cause death.
–Long-term consequences include psychological trauma, a feeling of incompleteness, and anxiety and depression; difficulties during childbirth; cysts and abscesses; keloid scar formation; damage to the urethra resulting in urinary incontinence; painful sexual intercourse; and sexual dysfunction.

“About 500 girls were circumcised in Sebei region over the Christmas period, a sharp rise in Female Genital Mutilation from just 90 in the previous circumcision season.

Bukwo and Kapchorwa local leaders said 490 girls aged between 10 and 21 years underwent the ritual that now involves the removal of not only the clitoris but also the entire labia.

The removal of the labia is an influence from the Kenyan Pokot who live side by side with the Sebei. The removal of the entire labia does not only cause excessive bleeding, but also exposes the girls to more chronic infections, painful sexual intercourse and more complications during child birth.”

“Thousands of young girls annually prepare for their initiation into a women’s secret association, Sande Society, which operates mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

As part of their initiation, young women take a vow of secrecy after weeks of training in the forest, promising not to not tell uninitiated girls or men what happens to them, to assume new names, and to have their clitorises cut off – known as female genital mutilation (FGM) – according to women in the secret society.

About half of Liberia’s some 16 ethnic groups, including the Bassa, Mende, Gola and Kissi, observe the rules of this historically-secret, centuries-old society.

One Mende member from Tubmanburg, Western Liberia, who asked not to be named, told IRIN removing a girl’s clitoris helps her become a “prolific child bearer.”

Another member, 42-year-old Jebbeh Sonneh, explained to IRIN, “Those who perform such [FGM] acts are typically elderly women in the community designated for the task, or traditional birth attendants.”

Sociologist Theo Kerkulah at the University of Liberia in Monrovia says even though the practice of rural forest initiations is common in Liberia, it is not openly discussed. “It is a difficult topic to teach. Most girls who joined the society are now in the classroom and never feel happy when you talk about it in the open. They feel [it is a betrayal]. Perhaps because of the myths that are associated with it.”

Kerkulah says the girls are bound by secrecy vows and the time they spend together in the forest where they undergo training to enter adulthood, learning domestic skills and moral lessons.

The lecturer told IRIN many girls believe the spirit of Sande, the guardian of women, guides them into and during adulthood.

Monrovia-based medical researcher Deddeh Siah says physical pain is an additional factor binding the young girls, “In some Sandes [initiates], not only is her genitalia removed, the student is marked [cut] so that large scars remain on the skin of the initiate for life.”

She estimates about 5,000 puberty-aged adolescents join the group every year, either by force or choice.

Sandes are a part of Liberia’s cultural heritage, says Jomo Weah who works at a government-run culture centre in Kendeja, on the outskirts of Monrovia. “We cannot stop it. It is our culture. We can only intervene by allowing them to go about doing it when the girls are on school break.”

Local civil society groups including Girls Movement for Education have tried to discourage parents from allowing their girls to join Sande Society.

Government health worker Mary Mah says FGM is killing hundreds of girls in Liberia every year. “Over 20 percent of the initiates die from excessive bleeding after their clitoris has been removed.”

Mah told IRIN if excessive pain and extreme bleeding do not kill the girls, FGM can scar or disfigure her for life. “Risk of serious potentially life-threatening complications [include] ongoing bleeding, infection including HIV, urine retention, stress, shock…[and] psychological trauma.”

Catherine Watson Khasu, an elected leader in Grand Cape Mount County in Western Liberia, about 140 km from Monrovia, dismisses these risks, “People have said all sorts of things against our cultural heritage, which are not true. I am a member of the Sande [Society] and I’m proud of it. There is nothing harmful about the Sande.”

She told IRIN the government and human rights organisations should respect the tradition of Liberia’s indigenous groups, “We know the [1989-2003 civil] war did a lot of damage to our country, but that does not mean we should desecrate our traditional shrines.”"

She has been living in the U.S. on a student visa and recently applied for asylum in the U.S. The Board of Immigration appeals rejected her plea with the following explanation:

“It ruled that she did not face persecution there, because the cutting, while “reprehensible,” could not be repeated. “The loss of a limb also gives rise to enduring harm,” the board said, but it would not be a good enough reason to grant asylum.The board also said that Ms. Traore’s fear that any daughters she might have would be subjected to similar barbarity was of no moment. Nor did it matter that Ms. Traore’s father has said he will force her to marry a first cousin – his sister’s son.

“My decision is irrevocable,” her father, Elhadj Traore, wrote to her in 2004. “The dowry has been paid, and all the Traore clan agrees. The animal sacrifice has been made for the village.”

“Lauri Steven Filppu, writing for a three-member panel of the immigration board, was measured in his sympathy.”It is understandable,” he wrote, that Ms. Traore, “an educated young woman, would prefer to choose her own spouse rather than acquiesce to pressure from her family to marry someone she does not love and with whom she expects to be unhappy. The respondent has also expressed valid concerns about possible birth defects resulting from a union with her first cousin.”

“While we do not discount the respondent’s concerns,” Mr. Filppu continued, “we do not see how the reluctant acceptance of family tradition over personal preference can form the basis” for allowing Ms. Traore to stay in the United States.”

We presume Mr. Filppu is talking about the personal preference not to get anywhere near the people who cut out your vulva and clitoris and would force you into a lifetime of marriage against your will, and forcibly put you at risk of bearing children with genetic defects. In what way could that not be considered a human rights violation??

Unfortunately, the story of Alima Traore is a tragic example of the U.S. enabling the culture of impunity that allows violence against women to continue, both in our own country and all over the word, and sadly illustrates the point Barillas was making.