Post-revolution, Sudan moves to ban genital cutting

Those who perform the operation with be punished with three years in prison and fine

● RIGHTS GROUPS have for years decried as barbaric the practice which can lead to myriad physical, psychological and sexual complications and, in the most tragic cases, death.

Khartoum, May 6: Hakam Ibrahim was seven when, like most Sudanese girls, she became a victim of female genital mutilation — an age-old practice decried as horrific that the post-revolution government is now banning.

A mother-of-four in her 40s, Ibrahim vividly recalls the traumatic experience of what remains a widespread ritual in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia despite a concerted human rights campaign to end it. The night before it happened, Ibrahim remembers, women from her neighbourhood in the capital Khartoum were singing and ululating as they drew ceremonial henna tattoos on her hands.

On the day itself, she was taken to a small room where a woman in a white robe performed the operation to remove Ibrahim’s external genitalia. “I was put on a bed and felt excruciating pain jolting through my body,” she said.

“The pain lasted an entire week.” The practice has long been viewed, especially in rural communities, as a “rite of passage” for girls and a way to preserve their chastity. In Sudan, nearly nine out of 10 girls fall victim to what is known as FGM or genital cutting, according to the United Nations. In its most brutal form, it involves the removal of the labia and clitoris, often in unsanitary conditions and without anesthesia. The wound is then sewn shut, often causing cysts and infections and leaving women to suffer severe pain during sex and childbirth complications later in life. Rights groups have for years decried as barbaric the practice which can lead to myriad physical, psychological and sexual complications and, in the most tragic cases, death.

Last week, Sudan’s cabinet approved amendments to the criminal code that would punish those who perform the operation with up to three years in prison and a fine. It is expected to soon be ratified by Sudan’s transitional authorities. The watershed move is part of reforms that have come since the ouster more than a year ago of strongman Omar alBashir after mass demonstrations in which women took a leading role.

“It is a very important step for Sudanese women and shows that we have come a long way,” said women’s rights activist Zeinab Badreddin. The United Nations Children’s Fund also welcomed the landmark decision. “This practice is not only a violation of every girl child’s rights, it is harmful and has serious consequences for a girl’s physical and mental health,” said Abdullah Fadil, the Unicef Representative in Khartoum. The UN says FGM is widespread in many countries across Africa, the Middle East and Asia, affecting the lives of millions of girls and women. In Sudan, rights campaigners say the custom has over the past three decades spread to remote regions where it was previously not practised, including Sudan’s Nuba mountains.

In neighbouring Egypt, as in several other countries, genital cutting is now prohibited. A 2008 law punishes it with up to seven years in prison. Sudan’s anti-FGM advocates came close to a ban in 2015 when a bill was discussed in parliament but then shot down by Bashir who caved in to pressure from some Islamic clerics. Yet many religious leaders have spoken out against genital cutting over the years.

“Criminalising FGM does not contradict religion, and there is no (religious) text that permits female circumcision,” said 28year-old rights activist Sherine Abu Bakr. “It is a practice that should be fought, especially with the change happening.