You won't lose votes for opposing FGM, politicians told
African politicians have been advised that they can be bold about ending FGM and still get the winning votes.
What you need to know:
- Politicians fear speaking against the harmful practice on grounds that they would lose votes.
- Lawmakers reminded of the massive costs of FGM, asked to commit to ending the harmful practice.
You can still be elected despite speaking against female genital mutilation (FGM). This was the message to politicians during a webinar on Role of politicians in ending FGM in Africa last week.
Participants observed that politicians fear speaking against the harmful practice on grounds that they would lose votes.
“Politicians need to come out bold and stand for truth. Laws are made in Parliament but the law makers themselves can't come out loud to speak against it,” noted Dennis Maithya in the virtual forum convened by Global Media Campaign to End FGM.
Rugiatu Turay, former councillor of ward 172 in Port Loko District, Sierra Leone, said politicians can be bold about ending FGM and still get the winning votes.
The anti-FGM campaigner exemplified herself saying her successful contest proved wrong the naysayers.
“While I continued to represent my people in the council, I ensured FGM was included in the district development plan,” she said.
Disempowered
“(This shows that) to influence change you need to be where decisions are made,” said Ms Turay who has also served as Sierra Leone deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs.
Sociologist Hilary Burrage, said FGM is costly to a country’s economy; it also damages the affected women and girls’ socio-economic growth.
“The costs include much more than ‘just’ the medical and care issues,” she said.
She went on: “Women are disempowered. It's harder with ill-health and little autonomy to care for your family. (Further) funds are diverted from positive / progressive aspects of the economy, to health care.”
The politicians should, therefore, be aware of the massive costs of FGM to commit to ending the harmful practice, she said.
“Very few politicians anywhere understand the huge economic costs of FGM,” she noted.
The World Health Organisation puts $1.4 billion as the annual figure for treating health impacts of FGM, globally. But for individual countries, the FGM costs would swallow up to 30 per cent of the annual health budget, it notes.
Last week, traditional, religious and civil society leaders in Africa who met at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia vowed to champion anti-FGM campaigns in their respective countries. This is an encouraging step towards ending FGM of which traditional leaders are custodians of customs that encourage the practice in African communities.
