Boni elders want FGM allowed to ‘restore morals’ in women, girls

Women of the Boni community during a meeting. Photo/Cheti Praxides
Women of the Boni community during a meeting. Photo/Cheti Praxides

The Boni community council of elders is seeking the legalisation of female genital mutilation, arguing that outlawing it has eroded morals among their women and girls.

The elders claim there is an increase in teenage pregnancies, something that was unheard of when FGM was practiced.

The elders yesterday urged the government to allow and support them to carry out FGM on their women “so as to save the community from moral decadence”.

Council chairperson Ali Gubo said FGM is meant to “tame libido” of women and keep morals at the required levels.

Due to the immense anti-FGM campaigns across the country, the community has been unable to carry out the ritual in the open. Those who still have the guts to carry out the practice do it in hiding.

For decades, Boni girls as young as five years have been taken through the cut in what was termed preparing them for moral uprightness in a world believed to be full of moral decadence.

Gubo said FGM is not just a cut but an integral part of their culture as a forest community.

The elders blamed FGM ban for the increased divorce cases in the community.

They said women no longer undergo the cut and this makes them easily prone to ill morals that eventually wreck their homes and marriages. “We are at a point where we feel we must do something to recover our glory as a community and that lies in having our women face the cut. This is our culture, its not just a cut, it’s our way of life,” Gubo said.

Elder Kaltun Shure admitted they still carry out FGM on many girls, who willingly seek to have it done. “Not every Boni woman doesn’t want the cut. In fact, many prefer to undergo the cut. It gives them a feeling of maturity and completion,” he said.

Areas where the cut is carried out among the Boni include Milimani, Mararani, Mangai, Pandanguo and Basuba. The ritual normally takes place during school holidays.

Shure said those not cut say they are “uncomfortable”.

But Boni women differed with the elders and said FGM has been overtaken by time. They said it is time to encourage women and girls to pursue more productive activities like education.

Amina Barufa, a married mother of four, said, “Those claiming that women became immoral since FGM was banned should ask themselves why women are that way. It all boils down to how someone has been raised and the environment they grew up in.”

She said moral decay has nothing to do with being cut or not. “It’s a non-issue if you ask me. Girls should be encouraged to go to school and become something,” Barufa said.

Hindi MCA Anad Hajji, who comes from the Orma minority community, said they are actively creating awareness on the dark side of FGM and many communities are starting to understand.

“We go round educating people that what they believe is right, is actually wrong and unfair to the girls. It’s tough to have people drop the practice, but they are slowly coming around,” Anab said.

WATCH: The latest videos from the Star