A group, Side by Side Movement for Gender Justice on Monday bemoaned the high prevalence of female genital mutilation in Ekiti State despite the existence of law against it in the state and nation.
The group’s National Coordinator, Mr Vincent Dania, who praised Ekiti State Government for its sensitization programmes and efforts to get FGM practitioners off the practice, said it was time for enforcement to make culprits face the music with a view to ending it.
Dania spoke in Ado Ekiti during a discussion programme and premiere of a movie, ‘Royal Decree’ in collaboration with African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development, and the Christian Aid as part of ways to create awareness on the dangers inherent in the continued practice of FGM.
The coordinator, who urged stakeholders to join hands with the government in stamping out the menace in society, said, “Our objective is that the movie will inspire stakeholders in the state to take action in their respective communities and groups at ending FGM.
“From the reports we have, FGM is endemic in Ekiti and we must take action by advocating for it to end. There is law in the state, but there is need for the enforcement of the law so that people will see the danger in it and abandon the obsolete practice of cutting.”
He said that the group would soon begin advocacy visits to traditional and religious leaders in communities across the 16 local government areas of the state.
A discussant and the Head, Ekiti State Sexual Referral Centre, Rita Ilevbare, who said science had proven that there was no benefit in the cutting of female organs, called on Ekiti people and indeed Nigerians to stop the practice.
Ilevbare said the Ekiti state Governor’s wife, Mrs Bisi Fayemi, had introduced a series of interventions where some practitioners dropped their tools and were financially empowered for them to focus on other businesses instead of the FGM act.
She said, “People say it helps our girls from being promiscuous, but I can tell you that Ekiti has prevalent teenage pregnancy and FGM, this act has not achieved anything.”
Ilevbare said that Section 7 of Ekiti State Gender-based Violence (prohibition) Law 2019 clearly prohibited circumcision or genital mutilation, adding that the government would continue its efforts at eradicating the practice in the state.
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