By: Audrey Raymonda John
The Country Director of the Amazonian Initiative Movement (AIM-SL) in Sierra Leone, Madam Rugiatu Neneh Turay has served as the keynote Speaker on ‘The Change within Grassroots Movement’s Impact on Ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)’.
The conference with the theme, ‘Catalyzing and globalizing actions to end FGM Conference’ is ongoing in Kigali, Rwanda.
Many women delivered the 2023 conference bringing donors and grassroots activists from five (5) continents together to discuss various topics geared towards ending FGM in not only Africa but worldwide.
Speaking on ‘The change within grassroots movement’s impact on ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)’, Madam Rugiatu Neneh Turay said, most of the harmful traditional practices have negative health, social, economic, psychological and environmental impacts on women and girls but yet still people are ignorant about its harmful effects.
She said the conference is geared toward stimulating and educating countries in the five continents to have common goals which will help a robust campaign, to hold duty bearers accountable for their actions in protecting women and girls and also to end FGM practice.
Madam Turay said, sometimes people don’t know where and when FGM started; adding that, people have a strong desire to become members of the practice despite its harmful impact and it is done mainly in secret while harmful practices are also done to people without informed consent.
She stated that the efforts to resist change can be easily gathered and mostly associated with a kind of spiritual power that regulates its activities and membership.
The practice, she maintained instils fear and terror in the members and non-members as a way to maintain it status quo.
AIM-SL, Director Madam Turay spoke on the myths about FGM, adding that most people see FGM as a way to prepare girls for adulthood, womanhood and marriage as well as preservation of the girl’s virginity.
According to Madam Turay, the community people in Sierra Leone still believed that removing certain parts of the female genitals which they consider ugly, makes the female genital beautiful, adding that it is also believed that the part removed (the clitoris), is unclean and unfeminine.
Madam Turay furthered that, her organization AIM-SL and the Forum Against Harmful Practices (FAHP) are always working towards a culturally friendly approach with conformed campaign messages and one objective which is zero tolerance for FGM.
Madam Turay lauded the organizers for the wonderful conference and acclaimed the engagement as well as referred to it as healthy and educative.
She furthered that the engagement will benefit a lot of countries that are always ready to work towards zero tolerance for FGM.
Madam Turay urged the Participants and campaigners in the conferment continent to break those vicious cycles of FGM and protect the rights of women and girls worldwide.
She also spoke about how politicians are in the habit to uses FGM to gain votes, adding that, they will buy building materials to build bondo bushes for FGM initiation instead of building schools.
She also urged women in different Continents to observe and adhere to the alternative rite of passage on FGM, adding that Sierra Leone has piloted the bondo without blood which she said, was successful.
Madam Turay also used the opportunity and urged women, especially ‘soweis’ to take back the Bondo society into the bushes rather than initiating women and girls in parlours and rooms.
She stated that the Bondo without blood is working and it has respect for women while appealing to women to begin to think of planting trees and take back their society from men into that forest.
“We want the Bondo society but without FGM,” she said.
Turay has urged beneficiaries to take advantage of the conference and cascade the engagement to their different continents as well as the communities in which they operate.