Over one week a total of 15 FGM's took place in one Burkina Faso town, Pabre, culminating in the death of one teenage girl. In addition to the death of the one girl, seven other girls are currently being treated at a local hospital for various infections and/or hemorrhaging. Sadly these 15 girls where not alone in their suffering, as reports quickly came of another five girls in the countries second largest city, Bobo-Dioulasso.
The death of the girl, has brought FGM back into the spotlight, a light many in Burkina Faso thought was over. However the country, who was one of the leaders promoting the rights of young girls when they outlawed Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in 1996, seems to have kept many in secrets in the dark. While its true that many girls have been prevented the torture of FGM, since the law was passed a decade ago, many rural areas , mostly in the north, of the country remained unchanged.
Following the young girls death, Social Action Minister Pascaline Tamini said that Burkina Faso has cut FGM nearly in half in the last decade, with estimates now at 45% (Burkina Faso reduces FGM). The year following the ban estimates where about 80%, while in 1999 State Department estimates where 71.6% (Burkina Faso: Report on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or Female Genital Cutting (FGC)).
“While prevalence of FGM/C among women aged 15-49 varies according to residence and ethnic affiliation, the latest (2003) DHS data indicate 77% of women in Burkina Faso have undergone some form of FGM/C. This level decreases among women in the younger age groups of 25 and below suggesting potential generational changes in the practice.” (Burkina Faso FGC/M Country Profile- UNICEF)
What does this all mean for the fate of girls in Burkina Faso?
"It means there is resistance and we need to seek new strategies so that people can give up the practice that some still believe to be of divine origin," Marie Berthe Ouédraogo, chief of child protection for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Burkina Faso, told IRIN (BURKINA FASO: Girl's death prompts search for new strategies to fight FGM). Ouédraogo added, "We must innovate. We must find new strategies… We must change the way we give the message."
What has people shocked is that the areas in which the FGM's took place, where ones where NGO's have been active. It only serves to illustrate that while progress has been made…there is much more to do. It will take substantial efforts, and new thinking to ensure that Burkina Faso is truly FGM free!
