Bolanle Ambode Urges Mothers to Take a Stand Against Female Genital Mutilation

Wife of the governor of Lagos State, Bolanle Ambode, through the Assistant Director Public Affairs, Folashade Kadiri, on Monday called on mothers, women groups and influemtial government organizations, to advocate towards total eradication of female genital mutilation.

She made this call in Alausa, Ikeja, while interacting with journalists on the occasion of the 2017 International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Bolanle, explained that FGM constituted an extreme form of discrimination against women and girls, violating their rights to health, security and physical integrity.

She questioned why women should continue to suffer such level of dehumanization, just to get social acceptance or avoid social stigma.

She said:

“It is surprising that 45 out of every 100 adult women living in Lagos State have undergone FGM at one time or another as reported in the National Demographic Health Survey 2013. This is largely due to migration from those states where the prevalence in much higher.”

Shedding more light on the issue, she revealed that FGM  is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15, often leading to severe bleeding and health issues that may include cysts, infections, infertility, as well as serious complications resulting in death.

She, noted that it is wrong to tie the gruesome procedure to family honour, hygiene, fertility, protection of virginity and prevention of promiscuity.

She has called on massive public awareness campaigns and concrete actions against the practice. She further stated that only when mothers begin to raise their voices against the act and governments initiated strong legislation, can we begin to race toward total eradication of the wicked practice in Africa and the world.

February 6 of every year has been set aside by the United Nations as the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.