நைஜீரியாவில் பெண்குறி வெட்டும் பழக்கத்தை தடுக்க கோரிக்கை

நைஜீரியாவில் பெண்குறி வெட்டும் பழக்கத்தை தடுக்க கோரிக்கை எழுப்பப்பட்டுள்ளது.

Nigeria: NGO Urges Chime to Sign Bill On Female Genital Mutilation
Leadership (Abuja)
4 November 2007
Posted to the web 5 November 2007
Nnamdi Mbawike

An Enugu-based Non- Govermental Organisation, the Nigerian Society for the Improvement of Rural People(NSIRP), has called on Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State to assent to the bill on Female Violation and Discrmination (Prohibition and Abolition Bill) passed by the state House of Assembly in 2005.

It would be recalled that the bill , which also sought to criminalise female mutilation in the state, was presented to the immediate past governor of the state, Chimaraoke Nnamani, for his assent, but was thrown to the waste paper bin for unknown reasons.

President of the organisation , Mrs Obioma Faith Ugwu, who made the call at a one day sensitisation workshop on the role of legislation in the abolition of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Enugu State, explained that the bill when assented to, would abolish the tradition, custom and culture that support and encourage female circumcision, discrimination and other forms of oppression against women in the state.

While lamenting the increasing rate of female genital mutilation in the state, she appealed to the people of the state to partner with her organisation and other stakeholders in sensitising those who still indulge in such act especially in the local communities.

Speaking further, Mrs Ugwu stated that one of the import of the workshop was to solicit support of the media and the general public in the fight against female mutilation in the state.

Delivering a paper, titled "the key components of the Enugu state female violation and discrimination prohibition and abolition law 2005 of the Enugu state of Nigeria and the challenges for stakeholders," deputychief Registrar, Enugu State ministry of justice, Mrs. P. A Obayi, urged women to always report to the law court whenever their rights are being violated.

She dismissed the traditional belief that promiscuity among women are often caused by non-circumcision, appealing to governmental organisations and the media to intensify efforts at sensitising the public on the danger inherent in female genital mutilation.