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RIGHTS-BENIN: Groups Welcome New Law Banning Female Genital Mutilation
By Ali Idrissou-Toure
COTONOU, Jan 29 (IPS) - Rights groups have welcomed a new law, banning all
forms of female genital mutilation in Benin.
''I am pleased with the passage of the law, because, of all the countries
in the sub-region, Benin was the last to outlaw female genital mutilation,''
says Genevieve Boko Nadjo, president of WILDAF-Benin, a non-governmental
organisation (NGO) dealing with women issues.
Nadjo says the new law should be ''accepted as the first step - to fill a
legal void in Benin, where female genital mutilation was not even considered
to be a crime''.
The law, which was passed by parliament on Jan 21, prohibits ''All forms
of female genital mutilation''.
Under the law, an offender, who removes women genitalia, is handed a
prison term of between six months and three years, and a fine of between one
and two million CFA francs (about 1,613 and 3,226 U.S. dollars). When the
crime is against a minor under 18 years of age, the punishment is increased
from three to five years of prison, and a fine as high as three million CFA
(about 4,839 U.S. dollars).
If the victim died in the process of circumcision, the perpetrator gets
between five and ten years in prison, and fines of up to six million CFA
(about 9,678 U.S. dollars).
Legislator Alassane Zoumarou, who sponsored the bill, says ''female
genital mutilation is one of the old socio-cultural practices of our country
''.
There are generally three different types of circumcision:
clitoridectomy, the amputation of the clitoris; excision of the labia minora
as well as the clitoris; and infibulation, the removal all external
genitalia including the labia majora, after which the edges of the wound are
stitched together, allowing for only a tiny opening.
Female genital mutilation causes haemorrhages or infections such as
tetanus and HIV/AIDS transmission, medical doctors say.
Marie Elise Gbedo, vice president of the Association of Women Jurists of
Benin, says the tiny West African country, with a population of about 6.4
million, ''has just taken a major step to combat a sensitive problem, where
habits are the product of tradition.''
Gbedo believes ''awareness campaigns by government and civil society are
necessary since the new law concerns women's reproductive health''.
During a campaign against sexual harassment in a school in Kalale,
northeast Benin, in December, Nadjo says she discovered that mothers allow
their daughters to be sent away to little villages, on the border with
Nigeria, to be circumcised. ''Once they are isolated, the girls are excised
and remain in those little remote villages until their wounds have
completely healed before they return home,'' she says.
''Another consequence is that, since the methods are not sterile, healing
takes time and the girls lose the rest of their school year,'' explains
Nadjo.
Rights groups say some 200 girls selected for circumcision in Tanguieta,
northeast Benin, last year were also sent to remote villages. But, just
before the ceremony, WILDAF-Benin alerted the public through the local
press, causing a wave of an uproar.
Victorine Odounlami, president of the Inter-African Committee Against
Traditional Practices Impacting the Health of Women and Children, says ''
after fighting this harmful practice for several years, the vote on this law
comes just at the right time''.
For her, the fight is not yet over, as her group is planning a series of
awareness campaigns across Benin.
''Education is important before enforcing the new law,'' she says.
Female genital mutilation is a problem, which affects over 100 million
women around the world. The practice is done for reasons, which include
religion and economics on girls in various parts of Africa and the Middle
East.
In Africa, female genital mutilation is practiced in the majority of the
continent including Benin, Kenya, Nigeria, Mali, Upper Volta, Ivory Coast,
Egypt, Mozambique, and Sudan. (END/2003)
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