- She has never menstruated
- Surgeons come to her rescue
Many women and girls in Nigeria and other parts of the world where female genital mutilation is prevalent have different interpretations and perceptions of what it means to cope with the impact of the harmful cultural practice. As expected those who survived the barbaric act have one sad story or the other to tell.
For 42-year-old Edem from Akwa Ibom State, female genital mutilation otherwise called FGM is a frightening ritual that means everything negative, painful and humiliating.
This harmful traditional practice not only brought constant pain and sorrow to her, but also destroyed her dignity and sense of pride as a woman.
Narrating her agonising experience to The Point recently, she said FGM left her with deep pain and silent torture that has eroded her pride.
Giving a shocking revelation, she said, “You will not believe that I do not have a vagina. They removed virtually everything when I was a child. With the small opening they left for me, I manage to urinate. I have never menstruated at my age all because of circumcision that I knew nothing about. I blame my mother for all the pain and agony that I have been going through. She is responsible for my plight.
You will not believe that I do not have a vagina. They removed virtually everything when I was a child. With the small opening they left for me, I manage to urinate. I have never menstruated at my age all because of circumcision that I knew nothing about
“I guess you could say I am really a woman but I do not have all the parts that make a woman. God gave all the parts but FGM took everything away and left me in distress. I always feel less a woman.”
Indeed, the action of Edem’s mother had banished her into a world of fear and rejection. She lives in pain and agony as long as her case persists.
At 42, Edem remains single and a virgin. This is nothing to assuage her pain as she struggles in a state of helplessness and despair every day without of a succour. Indeed, remaining virgo intact is not her choice but a compelling verdict that this inhuman practice passed on her.
If she had her way, she would have, for long, been married. Perhaps, she could have been nursing her last child by now. But no man would want to have her as a wife, or would any man ask for her hand in a relationship. And most regretfully, Edem also decided to shut the door of her heart against suitors. She keeps off any relationship like a plague because of the silent but painful situation in her life.
She wonderes daily on why her mother gruesomely sacrificed her social, physiological, sexual and physical well-being on the altar of genital mutilation.
Edem lamented, “Who wants to marry a woman without a vagina? Who would marry you if they know you don’t menstruate and all you have down there is just a little tiny hole for urinating? Tell me…is it not better to stay away from men than get married and be thrown out after your wedding day?”
Though Edem’s experience is traumatizing, but she is not the only one suffering from the backlash of the barbaric act which the United Nations’ agencies said must be eliminated before 2030 so that the tens of millions of girls who are still at risk of being mutilated do not share same trauma as Edem.
According to UNICEF, at least 200 million girls and women alive today have had their genitals mutilated – suffering as a result of one of the most inhuman acts of gender-based violence in the world.
Female genital mutilation is a traditional practice of partial or total removal of the clitoris and or external genitalia of girls and young women for non-medical reasons.
Experts say FGM leads to excruciating long-term physical, psychological and social consequences. It violates women’s rights to sexual and reproductive health, physical integrity, non-discrimination and freedom from cruel or degrading treatments.
It is also a violation of medical ethics: Female genital mutilation is never safe, no matter who carries it out or how clean the venue is.
Edem, however, got reprieve in 2018 when a non-governmental organisation on a free health mission in her state discovered her pathetic situation and offered to help reconstruct her vagina.
She said, “It was fibroid that attracted me to the health mission. It was in the course of examination that they found out that I had no vagina. After I narrated my ordeal to them, they offered to help. They could not imagine what I had been through. In fact, they first reconstructed the vagina before carrying out the fibroid operation. I’m happy and I feel better now that this burden is off my body. By the grace of God, I know my menses will come. I also believe that husband will come and I will no longer be afraid of getting married like before.”
The joy and fresh breath ushered in by the restoration of her sexuality and womanhood was not in doubt as she keeps thanking God for the relief that came her way.
The surgeon and maternal health specialist who repaired Edem’s vagina, Dr Benjamin Olowojebutu, told our correspondent that her case was a classic example of a dehumanising impact of FGM.
He explained, “Edem wasn’t really circumcised- hers was a classic case of Female Genital Mutilation. She had her vagina mutilated. Given the age this horrendous act was carried out, she probably had almost everything removed. From the clitoris to the labia minora even a large part of her labia majora were completely expunged.”
Olowojebutu further said, “After Edem’s mutilation 42 years ago, the healing of the cut was also poorly managed and then she had infections and developed vaginal stenosis, which is the narrowing and loss of flexibility of the vagina, accompanied by dryness and loss of resilience of the tissue.
“But in her own case, the mutilation also narrowed the vaginal opening aside the scar to the point where even the pinky finger may not conveniently get in.”
“I must say, it was terribly done and even If she lived till the age of 60, she would have remained a virgin no matter how much she craved a relationship with the opposite sex. No one would have been able to have sex with her.”
According to the surgeon, Edem’s travails were not just about her lack of vaginal opening; she also had never menstruated.
“Because of her blocked vagina, blood could not go out of her body during menstruation, thus causing urinary tract infection, severe pain and chronic loss of libido. And she had multiple fibroids to deal with too. It was actually the fibroid that brought her to the health mission”, he said.
Giving further insight into Edem’s surgery, Olowojebutu said, “We had gone in hoping that we would just take out the fibroid since that is our expertise but when we realised that the woman had ‘no vagina’ we were all taken aback but from experience, I understood stenosis as a condition that could occur as one of the consequences of terribly done circumcision and it could also be corrected surgically.
“For the reconstruction, we had to take out the fibrosed scar layer by layer till we got to the closed vagina and then we had to open gradually to give her a vaginal floor that will lead to the cervix, then we gave her a connection from the uterus now to the vagina.
“Edem’s vagina had to be reconstructed before the fibroid operation. And with that, all of her sexual and reproductive functions would be restored and improved upon the theory of use as sexual activity begins. She could have vaginal stimulation, get lubricated and menstruate normally and even conceive since her problems were mainly ‘structural’ and not hormonal. But she may have to wait for a while. Edem has no boyfriend nor husband with whom she may want to test or try to live out her new found life. She is, however, not in a hurry for that now.”
To end the harmful practice, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who expressed concern boutat Edem’s experience, told The Point that the people in rural communities required consistent and sustained enlightenment and education on the negative impact of FGM to abandon the practice.
“People must be educated about the consequences of FGM. We must provide them with the right information to be able to change their mindset and attitude. I believe a behavioural change among the people still holding onto the tradition will end the practice”, he said.
Idris maintained that advocacy backed with regulation would help check the menace.
The World Health Organisation said, “FGM has no health benefits and it harms girls and women in many ways. It involves removing and damaging healthy and normal female genital tissue and interferes with the natural functions of girls’ and women’s bodies.”
On his part, the Chairman, Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, Lagos State Chapter, Dr Tunji Akintade, called on government at all levels to enforce laws violating the rights and dignity of women and
girls.
He said the new trend of FGM practice commonly referred to as “medicalization of FGM was totally unacceptable, asking the public to report any medical practitioner found in the harmful practice to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria for disciplinary action.
As part of efforts to eliminate the practice globally, the United Nations sets February 6 of every year as International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation in order to raise awareness on the negative impact of the traditional
practice.
Executive Director, UNICEF, Henrietta Fore said, “We need new policies and legislation protecting the rights of girls and women to live free from violence and discrimination. Governments in countries where female genital mutilation is prevalent should also develop national action plans to end the practice. To be effective, their plans must include budget lines dedicated to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health, education, social welfare and legal
services.”
