“An uncircumcised girl will have excessive desire and runs the risk of losing her virginity very soon. Girls who are not circumcised are considered 'dirty', they are not clean according to religion. They will not have a husband, they will be mocked, they will be a disgrace to their family.” This is how Koura Diallo, a farmer from the commune of Sansankidé (west of Mali), relates the social pressure that exists to subject girls to female genital mutilation (FGM).
What is hidden behind this patriarchal practice are disastrous consequences for their health: pain, bleeding, infections, fistulas, complicated births and psychological trauma.
There is currently no law in Mali that specifically criminalizes female genital mutilation. The lack of legislation and social pressure make it very difficult to end this practice in this country of 22.5 million inhabitants, where almost eight million of girls and women have been subjected to this procedure. But, even with the risk of social stigma, there are women who challenge tradition.
FGM is just one of the sexist violence that women suffer in Mali, and that has serious consequences for their lives, their education and their autonomy. Dolo Oum Jomele directs Iamaneh Mali, an association that promotes the exercise of sexual and reproductive rights, and also the economic autonomy of women, challenging traditions and social norms. “We do awareness-raising work at all levels to put an end to the so-called 'disastrous traditional practices', which are those customs that violate human rights, especially those of women and girls. We talk about female genital mutilation, but also child marriage, forced marriage or domestic violence,” says the director. Iamaneh, with the support of Farmamundi, trains health personnel in the Kayes region and improves health center facilities to prevent and treat health complications resulting from mutilation.
Hinda Keita is a midwife at the Diema Community Health Center, where she sees every day the risks of giving birth with FGM, for both mother and baby. For this reason, Ella Keita is very involved in raising awareness in the community. “People believe that mutilation is an obligation prescribed in the Quran, but there is no mention of it. We try to convince women and their husbands not to subject their daughters to this practice, and avoid many unnecessary deaths,” says the midwife.
The use of contraceptive methods is another of the key points of awareness, since the lack of family planning also affects women's rights: high fertility rates, high risk of maternal mortality and low life expectancy. Mariame Soucko, from the Sansankidé women's group, explains the difficulties they have in accessing planning, and that they have to do—once again—with gender roles and machismo. “Many women in the village have their husbands abroad. If her husband is not present, the woman will be embarrassed to ask for information about family planning. And if they try to talk to him about it, she will immediately think that they want to deceive him,” she explains.
The result of these actions begins to reflect a change in women, especially in the freedom to report violations of women's rights, something that was previously taboo. There are community committees against “harmful traditional practices” and campaigns and workshops are carried out in which women and men of all ages participate, including local leaders.
Organizations that defend women's rights in Mali emphasize the need to have a law that prohibits FGM, since legal change would help social change. Mali has ratified several international agreements that commit it to take measures to eradicate female genital mutilation, such as the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) or the Maputo Protocol. However, all attempts by civil society to pass a law have not been successful.
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