GENDER ADVOCATES CONTINUE CAMPAIGN TO END FGM IN IMO

REPORTER: CHINAZO ILECHUKWU

Media professionals have been urged to step up the campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM) to check the numerous health hazards associated with the practice.

The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Vulnerable Group in Imo State, Ms. Nkechinyere Ugwu, made the call at an event to mark the 2022 International Day of Zero Tolerance for female genital mutilation in Owerri.

Ms. Ugwu described as erroneous the impression that uncircumcised women had more tendencies to be promiscuous than their circumcised counterparts, noting that research had revealed that infidelity was a question of moral burden and other societal influences.

The Director Women Affairs in the Ministry, Dr. Blessing Azubuike, appealed to residents of the state to always report incidents of genital mutilation to law enforcement agents to help preserve the right of the girl child.

The Director advocated prompt response to those who were either affected or at risk of female genital mutilation.

She suggested that empowerment of women and girls would go a long way in addressing the situation.

The Executive Secretary of a non governmental organization, Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre (CIRDDOC), Ms. Onyinye Okaah, blamed the increase in female genital mutilation in Imo state on the outbreak of COVID-19.

According to Ms. Okaah, the quest for survival forced the rural women who had jettisoned the practice to return to carrying out the surgery on the female genitalia.