The Oyo State government has been called upon to give bite to existing laws prohibiting female genital mutilation (FGM) in the state and to also take actions to discourage and end the act in the state.
This is as experts and stakeholders have expressed worries over preliminary findings from the Situation Assessment on FGM/C KAP study in Nigeria (Oyo State) (2015) which have shown that Kajola LGA of Oyo State has 98 per cent prevalence rate of FGM, the highest prevalence of FGM in Nigeria.
Also, according to the National Demographic Health Survey 2018, Oyo State has a prevalence rate of 31 per cent; a decline from the 55 per cent prevalence rate from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) of 2016.
Executive Director of Trailblazer Initiative Nigeria, Dr Dare Olagoke-Adaramoye, while speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the issue, also called on the Oyo State government to strengthen its existing relevant agencies to enable the agencies to battle the scourge in the state.
Dr Olagoke-Adaramoye spoke as part of his organisation’s advocacy activities for International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) 2023 at Gbonje, Okeho and Ilero which are densely-populated communities in Kajola LGA.
The Trailblazer Initiative Nigeria with support from UNICEF Nigeria at the one-day advocacy dialogue in Gbonje, Okeho and Ilero, said the programme was instituted to “increase the participation of men in ending FGM in their communities and to get support and buy-in of influential leaders to support interventions targeted towards the elimination of FGM, gender-based violence GBV, VAWG and child marriage.”
“We have three laws in the state – The child Rights Law of 2006; the Violence against Women Prohibition Law of 2016 and the Violence against Persons Prohibition Law. These laws prohibit female genital mutilation, but since these laws were passed, they have just been there and we don’t have up to two prosecutions in the state. In the communities, we keep hearing that every day they do this thing.
“My advice is that the government should get serious. They shouldn’t just make laws for the sake of it. Laws should take their course, there should be prosecution, and there should be support for government agencies that the laws say should prosecute.
“Let all these policies take effect. I believe that if there are prosecutions, people will take it seriously and see that the government is serious about ending FGM. I am more than worried about the attitude of the government about this. There is supposed to be monitoring through a surveillance systems established in the state. In Oyo State, there is supposed to be a Gender-Based Referral Centre. They have that on paper but there is no proper funding for that.
“There is supposed to be sexual offenders register, we have not seen anything like that in the state and when you talk to the ministry officials, they tell you they don’t have enough funding from the government.
It is part of what we are advocating for under this project that government should have all of these components in their budget and let there be provision so that these policies are not just policies and that government is serious with the implementation of these laws.
For instance, at the Ministry of Justice, there is a Department of Public Prosecution. When you look at these laws, there are some provisions the executive is supposed to make to the judicial arm but when you say this, they say they are incapacitated and that they lack certain requirements. So, that is just it.
When you talk to circumcisers in the community, they tell you it is not their fault that people bring their wards to them. They have different means of doing this.
Government is not serious. There is supposed to be monitoring through surveillance systems established in the state. In Oyo State, there is supposed to be a Gender-Based Referral Centre. They have that on paper but there is no proper funding for that.
There is supposed to be sexual offenders register, we have not seen anything like that in the state and when you talk to the ministry officials, they tell you they don’t have enough funding from the government.
It is part of what we are advocating for under this project that government should have all of these components in their budget and let there be provision so that these policies are not just policies and that government is serious with the implementation of these laws.
Source: https://tribuneonlineng.com/stakeholders-charge-oyo-govt-on-action-to-end-high-prevalence-of-fgm/
