The office of the wife of the Governor of Abia State in partnership with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Ministry of Basic and Tertiary Education and the Abia State Orientation Agency today marks the International Day on Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation with the theme Step Up The Pace: strengthening alliance and building movement to end female genital mutilation.
Addressing women at the council hall of Obingwa Local Government Area in Abia State, the wife of the Governor, Mrs. Priscilla Otti call on all stakeholders to address the root cause of female genital mutilation.
She maintained that while the practice has no benefit to its victims, it is a violation of women and girls rights that must be stopped.
Mrs. Otti represented by the commissioner for women affairs, Dr. Maureen Aghukwa, identified education, sensitisation and raising awareness on the dangers associated with female genital mutilation as a sine qua non to ending the practice.
“We must work to build a society that is supportive of the women and the girl child irrespective of their background”
“As the wife of the Governor, I will support every initiative aimed at ending the practice even as we strive to provide care and support to survivors,” Mrs. Otti said.
Participants at the event
Explaining the dangers associated with female genital mutilation, Dr. Princess Agomuo, a public health specialist said that women are not meant to be circumcised, it violates not just the rights of women but also mutilate her body which sometimes leads psychological trauma and depression.
Meanwhile, the Director General, Abia State Orientation Agency, Ure Abazie said that the agency is stepping up the campaign and sensitization to end the menace because female genital mutilation is still being practiced in some of our communities today.
Chidimma Alozie, a lawyer at the State Ministry of Justice also questioned the rationale behind female genital mutilation.
She pointed out that Abia State has domesticated the violence against persons prohibition laws, therefore anyone caught practicing female genital mutilation will be prosecuted.
According to her, ” section 4 of the VAPP law in Abia State prohibits the act and section 11 of the law put the penalty at 2 years imprisonment or a fine of #200,000.
