Authorities in the country have been asked to institute legislation that would end female genital mutilation, generally known as female circumcision.
A Public Health Nurse and Midwife, Mrs. Ijeoma Ilo, made the call while answering questions on the implications of female genital mutilation in a Radio Nigeria Enugu, Coal City F.M. Programme, She Speaks.
Mrs. Ilo who is also a lecturer at the Department of Health Science, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, said female genital mutilation or female circumcision, should not be encouraged because of its harmful effects on women.
‘’Aside from exposing such females to infections such as HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, hemorrhage, pain, and shock, it sometimes leads to death’’, she insisted.
The public health expert maintained that female genital mutilation is a bad traditional practice which involves the crude cutting of the female genital using unsterilized equipment notably razor blade, broken bottle and some other instruments which inflict serious pain on the female.
Explaining that there are no known medical benefits of female circumcision during the special female interactive programme, Ijeoma Ilo, said that such mutilation sometimes makes it impossible for easy menstrual flow and also for urine to pass through as such reduces the female genital opening.
‘’The vagina is supposed to be elastic and mutilation or circumcision reduces the elasticity because of the scarification. So such woman will not enjoy sexual intercourse as a result of the pain during sex. And most women would recline or withdraw when they experience painful sexual intercourse’’.
Dismissing the argument that female non circumcision leads to sexual promiscuity and helps the young girls retain their virginity, the University lecturer argued that the act does not have any medical benefit, saying that if such girls grow into womanhood and get married, she may not have sexual satisfaction with her spouse because some structures of the vagina may have been destroyed.
In unison with callers in the Coal City F.M. Enugu Programme, She Speaks, Mrs. Ijeoma Ilo, enjoined relevant authorities in the country to institute a legislation that will end female mutilation or circumcision as soon as possible.
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