Story of a woman who fights against ‘the cut’

Dar es Salaam. Despite the investment made so far by stakeholders and government in eliminating female genital mutilation (FGM) and gender-based violence (GBV), the vices have continued to plague Tanzania, exposing women’s health and lives to risk.

Ms Esther Joseph, 50, a resident of Gesarya Village in Serengeti District, Mara Region, is one of the many women in the area who are victims of FGM.

Hers is a sad story that depicts the reality facing many women in rural Tanzania.

Esther narrates that she was cut at a very tender age and forced into marriage almost immediately.

She reveals that it was her father eyeing a 30-head of cows dowry who perpetuated the marriage. She is blessed with eight children (four daughters and four sons). But she is now a widow after her husband died six years ago.

“My husband did not have the brutal habits that are said to be common among most Kurya men towards their wives, he was a good husband to me. He strongly stood up and protected his family against all inhuman practices, and unfortunately he died in 2011,” she noted.

Esther explains that one of her daughters, Rehema Joseph, 25, a Form Four leaver got married to a man for a dowry of 6 cows and was blessed with a baby girl during the three years of marriage. She recalls that when her daughter went into labour, her husband’s relative came to realise that her daughter (Rehema) was not mutilated.

“Since then she was discriminated by her in-laws and relatives looked down on her. Because of this, they believed that she has come with bad luck into their family,” she says.

“She was eventually forced to undergo the cut as one of the paramount rituals for her to become a purified family member,” she tells The Citizen.

Esther admits that the situation brought serious misunderstanding between the two families. Her, though, was eventually divorced on the condition that the six cows paid as dowry be returned.

To rescue her daughter from the discrimination, Esther intervened and agreed to take her daughter back home and paid back the dowry.

“I did not care about paying back the dowry, all I cared for was my daughter’s condition, to ensure she is not subjected to the cut,” she says.

“I firmly told her in-laws that my daughter would not be cut,” she adds.

Esther urges the government to strongly punish all FGM perpetrators. She further calls upon all to sincerely get involved in fighting against FGM and GBV.

She also acknowledges the endeavours taken by the human rights champions in fighting against FGM.

The FGM Elimination Project in Serengeti District, titled “Tokomeza Ukeketaji” that is ‘Eliminate FGM’, which is funded by Amref Health Africa in partnership with UN- Women-UNTF (January 2016-December 2018), shows that the number of girls registered for FGM in 2016 within the district, has dropped by 60 per cent as it is only 5, 621 (39.8 per cent) girls were registered compared to 14, 122 girls registered in 2014.

The programme also shows that over 762 (13.5 per cent) out of 5,621 girls who were interviewed, reported to openly denounce FGM practices despite pressure from parents and relatives.

At least 2,313 (41.1 per cent) out of 5,621 girls reported to undergo the cut, mostly reside in the neighbouring district (Tarime) or elsewhere.

According to findings, the practices are conducted at midnight in which at least six girls died as a result of a cut in the district.

Meanwhile, Sabina Lucas, 70, is an energetic elderly woman from Saunyi Village in Kilindi District, Tanga Region, a former circumciser who used to earn a considerable amount of money from the practice.

Sabina explains that she decided to stop taking part in the activity after she attended the Alternative Rite of Passage (ARP) ceremony organised by Amref Health Africa in Kenya.

“I cried when I heard a young Maasai girl in Kenya reciting a poem about the ordeal and the effects of the practice, I knelt down and took a vow that I will stop cutting the girls,” she laments.

She further narrates that since then she never regretted her decision of stopping what did for over 5 decades.

“I appeal to future mothers not to subject their children to this practice which is an act of violence against women,” she says. Adding “Parents should therefore educate their girls on the importance to say no to FGM,” she says.

Today she uses her position as an elder woman in her village to spark a larger dialogue about the practice in places where it is still a taboo.

After attending the ARP training, Sabina has held several meetings with the council of elders and parents in her continued attempt to change their views on the practice.

Her personal experience and unrelenting determination to make a difference has helped to convince several families not to circumcise their daughters.

Her village is now one of the many in Kilindi that has abandoned FGM. She is completely convinced that circumcising a girl is wrong and she admits that she will never go back to it.

As a response, government in collaboration with NGOs, Development Partners and CSOs continue to implement the Anti-FGM/GBV campaigns aiming at ending the related discriminative practices against women and ensure they have more opportunities to exercise their legal and social rights.

The country director of Amref Health Africa in Tanzania, Dr Florence Temu, calls upon all other stakeholders to join their resources and complement government’s drive to mitigate FGM and GBV in the country.

According to her, the organisation is committed to transforming lives of disadvantaged communities in Africa through multiple efforts on addressing health related challenges.

She admits that FGM and GBV are still major challenges that need to be addressed in a bid to enable women, who are the victims, to have access to their legal human rights including access to education.

“We are proud of the support that we receive from the government, donors, all other stakeholders and the community at large, but more efforts are required to be put in place so as to fully eliminate the discriminative practices against women,” she says.

“We are committed to continue supporting the government in addressing various health related challenges including FGM/GBV by conducting various projects such as Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) and Rights projects,” she says.

For her part, Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children minister Ummy Mwalimu says that the government will continue to work closely with the DP, NGOs and CSOs in eliminating the discriminative practices against women in Tanzania.

“The government is committed to continue strengthening its partnership with the health stakeholders in addressing health challenges in Tanzania,” she says.

She adds: “I kindly urge all stakeholders to continue cooperating closely with my ministry and the government in general to ensure that our plans to end the practices against women are completed and benefit a large number of people.”