1, 271 Villages Have Abandoned FGC and Early Marriage in Senegal
Through Public Declarations Since 1997
Dear Friends,
It was a beautiful, sunny December morning when thousands of people
arrived in the village of Oulampane to celebrate the end of Female
Genital Cutting and early marriage by representatives from 118 villages
in the Regions of Casamance and Kolda. They are members of the Diola
Fogni ethnic group who have practiced these traditions for centuries
in this luxuriously green and heavily wooded area of Senegal located
near the border of the Gambia.
After participating in the Tostan Village Empowerment Program supported
by the Adopt-a-Village initiative from 2001-02, followed by the
Tostan literacy program supported by Unicef and the Banyan Tree
in 2003, class participants from 20 villages decided to organize
public sessions to share the new information on human rights and
negative health consequences of FGC and early marriage with other
members of their communities. When surrounding villages heard of
these deliberations, they asked to meet and discuss the issue as
intermarrying relatives and neighbors that are accustomed to making
important decisions as a unified group. The Diolas are well known
for their concensual method of making decisions and all members
of society had to be consulted before the final announcement was
made
on December 7, 2003. Attending other declarations for the abandonment
of FGC and early marriage in the regions of Kaolack, Tambacounda
and Kolda over the past 3 years also inspired the participants to
end these practices in the same manner: a joyful and positive celebration
of health, human rights and positive traditions of the Diola Fogni
group.
During the explanations as to why they were abandoning these practices,
one woman, Terema Diedhiou, emotionally related that her own daughter
had died following the FGC operation due to severe hemorrhaging
and her niece had died after prolonged labor at the young age of
12. Other testimonials by local religious and traditional leaders,
presidents of the rural communities, women leaders, former circumcisers
and a representative of the youth groups were interspersed with
dance, songs and “mysteries of the forest”. These traditional,
mystical creatures from the Casamance
had not been witnessed for many years in this troubled area of the
country. The excitement of the crowd was clearly visible when hundreds
of children rushed forward in waves to see the unusual masks and
costumes that they had only imagined in their dreams from having
listened to around-the-fire stories over the years.
Speakers also noted that the Tostan program, which emphasizes the
understanding and application of human rights and responsibilities,
has also led to other positive effects in the region: peace-keeping
initiatives, active Village Management Committees, universal birth
registration, hygiene activities, better health practices, decrease
in domestic violence, an emergence of women’s leadership and general
problem-solving initiatives.
A skit was performed on the dangers of FGC and early marriage and
the circumcisers threw away the equipment they once used during
the FGC operation: knives, amulettes, “protective” water
and specially woven belts.
Many guests from the region attended the public declaration: NGOs,
government partners, women’s groups from Ziguinchor and other neighboring
villages, delegations from the Region of Kolda and from the Gambia.
Twenty local and international journalists from the television,
radio and written press interviewed participants and helped to spread
the declaration’s positive messages for the respect of health and
human rights across the country. For the first time, the entire
ceremony was broadcast live on Ziguinchor radio, reaching hundreds
of villages throughout the Casamance and in Gambia.
The Representative of the Governor of the Region of Senegal, the
Representative of Unicef, the President of the Rotary Millenium
Club of Dakar and a Representative from Inglemoor High School who
traveled from Seattle, Washington (one of the Adopt-a-Village sponsors),
all congratulated the 118 villages on their historic and courageous
decision. The President of the Rotary Millenium Club presented 10
sewing machines to the circumcisers as an alternative means for
them to earn a living. Inglemoor High School students donated a
millet machine to their adopted village, Bona.
The ceremony ended shortly before 7 PM as the sun was setting on
these harmful traditions in the Casamance and with hope for a new
and healthier dawn for the young girls of the region.
-Molly Melching, TOSTAN