COHABITATION

THE BOOMERANG OF COHABITING IN CAMEROON

A couple not married to each other is considered to be cohabiting when they are living together emotionally and or physically intimate relationship.
If you are in an opposite-sex relationship, your rights as a partner may depend on whether you are married or living together. Generally speaking, you will have fewer rights if you are living together than if you are married. Although there is no legal definition of living together, it generally means to live together as a couple without being married.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, you can formalise aspects of your status with a partner by drawing up a legal agreement called a cohabitation contract or living together agreement. A living together agreement outlines the rights and obligations of each partner towards each other. It is not clear whether living together agreements are legally enforceable but they can be useful to remind a couple of their original intentions. In practice, instead of a living together agreement, it is possible to make a series of legally enforceable agreements on specific matters, for example, how a jointly-owned house is shared. If you want to do this, you will need legal advice.

Although rarely enforced, cohabitation is considered illegal in seven states in the United States - Florida, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Virginia and West Virginia. Some couples prefer cohabitation because it does not legally commit them for an extended period, and because it is easier to establish and dissolve without the legal costs often associated with a divorce. In some jurisdictions cohabitation can be viewed legally as common-law marriage, either after the duration of a specified period, or the birth of the couple's child, or if the couple consider and behave accordingly as husband and wife. This helps to provide the surviving partner a legal basis for inheriting the deceased's belongings in the event of the death of their cohabiting partner.

Common-law marriage sometimes called de facto marriage, informal marriage or marriage by habit and repute is a form of interpersonal status which is legally recognized in some jurisdictions as a marriage even though no legally recognized marriage ceremony is performed or civil marriage contract is entered into or the marriage registered in a civil registry. A common law marriage is legally binding in some jurisdictions but has no legal consequence in others. In some jurisdictions without true common law marriages like Hungary, the term "common law marriage" is used as a synonym for non-marital relationships such as domestic partnership or reciprocal beneficiaries’ relationship.

Today, cohabitation is a common pattern among people in the Western world, especially those who desire marriage but whose financial situation temporarily precludes it, or who wish to prepare for what married life will be like before actually getting married, or because they see no benefit or value offered by marriage. More and more couples choose to have long-term relationships without marriage, and cohabit as a permanent arrangement.

Research shows that most couples who live together would like to get married someday, and within five years, slightly more than half of them do. People may live together for a number of reasons. - They are in love, and they want to spend more time together. They want to make sure they are compatible before they make a lifetime commitment to each other. They are engaged to be married, and decide to move in together before the wedding. They are perhaps saving money for a wedding, and figure they'll live together in the meantime. They are spending most nights together anyway and don't want to pay two rents. They don’t want to get married or cannot marry. They know their partner isn't a good match for a long-term relationship, but want to stick with this person for now. They would lose significant financial benefits if they were to marry. This predicament is especially common among senior citizens - who would sometimes lose a pension from a deceased spouse if they married and disabled people. It may also be because they are unable to legally marry, because for example same-sex, interracial or interreligious marriages are not legal or permitted. Other reasons include living with someone before marriage as a way for polygamist or polyamorists to avoid breaking the law, a way to avoid the higher income taxes paid by some two-income married couples in the United States.

In Cameroon there are some cases of females who have lost their lives as a result of cohabiting. On June 14, 2007 in the economic capital, Douala in the Littoral Province of Cameroon, a fourth year student of the faculty of Economic Science, University of Douala, Amandine Azebaze, age twenty- three was strangled to death in their home by her boy friend Blaise Deffo a barber by profession.

Blaise and Amandine were cohabiting; locally called in pidgin (CWS) “COME WE STAY”. After the act Blaise attempted suicide by stabbing himself. A neighbor broke in and Blaise was rushed to the hospital while Amandine’s corpse was transported to the mortuary. It is alleged that the reason for Blaise actions was because Amandine wanted to end the relationship after they have been living together for sometime. To this, her friends question if love is by force.

Apparently the students of the University of Douala especially her course mates with whom she attended lectures that morning took to the streets with banners in hand, marching from their campus to the hospital. Their aim was to notify the administration, public and the media that every human being has fundamental human rights, which includes the right to live. Therefore no body has the right to exterminate another person’s life. As such, justice should take its course.

Years back in Yaounde the capital city of Cameroon a similar incident had taken place. In this case, the man was a Tailor and was sponsoring the girl in the University of Yaounde. The girl in her final year decides she wanted to call off the relationship, to this the guy locked up and sent the house ablaze; killing them both.

In another cohabiting story, this time in Buea in the South West Province of Cameroon, Eleanor now a graduate in Public Administration and Mbella a graduate in Law had been cohabiting for seven years as students and have two daughters, three and four years respectively.

Although Eleanor lived with Mbella, her family was still in charge of her education. She had to care for her home, kids and study at the same time. Eleanor in her twenties has constantly been battered by Mbella who is about thirty years old. According to Eleanor the children are traumatized, as a result, they get frantic and start crying each time their dad starts yelling; since they know their mom would eventually be mal- handled.

In one of Mbella’s battering flings, he beat Eleanor up and she ended up admitted in hospital. Besides one of his sisters, neither him nor any of his family member showed up at the hospital. When Eleanor was discharged she went to live with her family, Mbella accosted her later giving her an ultimatum to return to his house.

She did not. He saw her again asking for forgiveness and that if she had actually forgiven him then she should accompany him to a party. She refused stating she is still recovering. Mbella insisted he needed just her company even if she would not dance. At the party a guy approached Eleanor for a dance even though she declined, Mbella was enraged and this ensues in to a fight.

Eleanor thence took the decision never to return to live with him again. A few months after Eleanor now living in another town helping in her father’s palm oil mill came around to visit her children who where now living with their paternal grandmother and aunts. Mbella came in, started scolding and asked her to leave. Amidst their exchange of words Mbella punched her neck to further defend herself, she got hold of an ovaltine bottle and crashed on his head.

Eleanor later was not proud of her action and even tried to seek a truce but this fell on deaf ears. However, Eleanor cannot get to see her kids. With her motherly love for her children she decided to visit them at school. To her total dismay the children upon seeing her fled crying. The school authorities tried to find out what was going on; since Eleanor was their mom and usually dropped and pick them from school as such they were surprised with the children’s reaction towards their mother. The children informed them that their dad told them to not get close to Eleanor because she was not their mom. Eleanor stunned and in a melancholic state went immediately to the State Counsel Office and was later referred to the Social Welfare service to seek legal redress. She was given convocation to serve Mbella.

What amazes Eleanor is that, about two weeks back when she visited the kids whom she had not seen for about three months they happily rushed to her, now just within two weeks after the last incident with Mbella the children are running away from her. She is tortured about the thought of loosing her children and what worries her more is that Mbella’s mother is not educated and his sister’s are nonchalant, as a result the children would have a set back in their education, morals and personal hygiene- especially when she sees them with unkempt hair. Sometimes she has to sneak to an opposite neighbours house not to be noticed by Mbellas’ family just to watch her children playing outside.

There have been other cases of domestic violence that has caused the death of many women - like a case of a man who battered the pregnant wife and she eventually died with her unborn twin. Actually the government of Cameroon is trying to discourage cohabiting. Most couples from a survey by the Ministry of Women Empowerment and the Family, claim they would love to legalise their relationship but this is hindered due to the cost involve.

The Ministry discovered that girls and women in this kind of relationship are not secured since they have no legal document backing them as a result; they are subjected to domestic violence, abuse of their rights and abandonment.

To ameliorate this situation, the Ministry of Women Empowerment and the Family together with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization have now introduced Mass Marriages with no charges at the Municipal Councils. All that is expected by the couples is for them to come along with a portrait in which their heads are joint together and their rings. We are still to appreciate the effectiveness of this merger, since it is a common phenomenon in Cameroon that certain decrees are more of theory than practical.

By Cecile Enie

ABOUT BONDED LABOUR

BOUNDED LABOUR: A Weird Form of Slavery

“No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms” -Article 4 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

One of the least known form of slavery today and yet the most widely used method of enslaving people is bounded labour or debt bondage. A person becomes a bounded labourer when their labour is demanded as a means of repayment for a loan. Bonded labourers are forced to work to repay debts their employers say they owe, and they are not allowed to work for anyone else. As such, various forms of force are used to make sure they stay.
Incidentally, the person is tricked or trapped into working for very little or no pay, often for an entire week. The value of their work is invariably greater than the original sum of money borrowed. This form of slavery has existed for hundreds of years. In Southern Asia it is rooted in the caste system and continues to flourish in feudal agricultural relationships, cottage industries and factories.

A caste system is a social system where people are ranked into groups based on heredity within rigid systems of social stratification, especially those that constitute Hindu India. Some Scholars deny that true caste systems are found outside India. The caste is a closed group whose members are severely restricted in their choice of occupation and degree of social participation. Marriage outside the caste is prohibited. Social status is determined by the caste of one's birth and may only rarely be transcended. Certain religious minorities may voluntarily constitute a quasi-caste within a society, but they are less apt to be characterized by cultural distinctiveness than by their self-imposed social segregation. A specialized labor group may operate as a caste within a society otherwise free of such distinctions like the ironsmiths in parts of Africa. In general, caste functions to maintain the status quo in a society.

“ The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted fifty years ago, proclaimed that ‘ no one shall be held in slavery and servitude…’ it is difficult to believe that as this great and tragic century draws to a close, the problems of slavery and slave labour remains unresolved… All of us have a critical role to play in ensuring that the issues of enslaved labour and debt bondage are returned to the top of human rights agenda.” This statement was made in 1998 by Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Debt bondage, debt slavery, bonded labor or peonage was also used as a means of trapping indentured labourers into working on plantations in Africa, the Caribbean and South- East Asia following the abolition of the slave trade or the truck system. The term truck system refers to a form of unfree labour in which workers are paid in goods and/or services, instead of money. It should be noted that truck systems, per se, are distinguished from truck wages, a generic term for non-cash payments, which in some historical contexts have been utilised by free workers. There are extreme examples of chained labourers kept under armed guard in Pakistan. In many cases they are kept under surveillance; sometimes under lock and key.

Poverty and threats of violence force many bounded labourers to stay with their masters, since they would not otherwise be able to eat or have a place to sleep. The existence of bounded labour stems from the fact that some people are prepared to exploit the desperation of others who are poverty stricken. They are often without land or education as such, their need for cash just for daily survival forces people to sell their labour in exchange for a lump sum of money or a loan.

Consequently, entire families are kept like cattle on farms in India, Pakistan and Nepal; migrant agricultural workers are equally forced to remain on ranches in Brazil, children trafficked for profit in West Africa and the organized export of women into domestic and sexual slavery in Europe. Despite the fact that bounded labour is illegal in most countries where they are found, governments are rarely willing to enforce the law, or to ensure that those who profit from it are punished.

Article 1 of the United Nations Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institution and practices similar to slavery in 1956 declared that “each of the States Parties to this convention shall take all practicable and necessary legislative and other measures to bring about progressively and as soon as possible the complete abolition or abandonment of the following institutions and practices, where they still exist… Debt bondage, that is to say, the status or condition arising from a pledge by a debtor of his personal services or of those of a person under his control as security for a debt, if value of those services as reasonably assessed is not applied towards the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature of those services are not respectively limited and defined”. While 1(a) indicated that parties to the Convention are required to adopt measures to bring about the complete abolition of debt bondage.

According to Justice PN Bhagwati, Indian Supreme Court Judge in 1982, Bonded Labourers are non-being, exiles of civilization, living a life worse than that of animals, for the animals are at least free to roam about as they like… The system, under which one person can be bounded to provide labour for another for years and years until an alleged debt is supposed to be wiped out, which never seems to happen during the lifetime of the bounded labourer, is totally incompatible with the new egalitarian socio-economic order which we have promised to build.

Going by Anti- Slavery International fact sheet - today’s fight for tomorrow’s freedom, there are some twenty million bounded labourers in the world. Bounded labour is expanding due to poverty and the global demand for sources of cheap, expendable labour. Bonded labour was also used as a method of colonial labour recruitment for plantations in Africa, the Caribbean and South East Asia. Bonded labourers are routinely threatened with and subjected to physical and sexual violence. They are kept under various forms of surveillance, in some cases by armed guards. There are very few cases where chains are actually used (although it does occur) but these constraints on the bonded labourers are every bit as real and as restricting.

Section 2 of the Slave Trade Act 1843 enacted by the British Parliament declared "persons holden in servitude as pledges for debt", that is, bonded laborers, to "be slaves or persons intended to be dealt with as slaves" for the purpose of the Slave Trade Act 1824 and the Slavery Abolition Act 1833.

Bonded labor and in particular, bonded child labour, exist in Pakistan, India and Nepal. These children known in India as Peyjolis and Kuthias, are, in effect the slaves of feudal landowners or carpet loom masters. Where the whole family is in bondage, the child must watch helplessly as his mother is assaulted by his master in the bushes, or watch his father being lashed at the plough or in the quarry.

Around the world, millions of children have never had a childhood. They are forced to work, sometimes as child laborers, sometimes as virtual slaves. This practice is illegal and just plain wrong. Child labor is a crime committed against nearly 220 million children, or one in every seven, ages 5 to 17, around the world. The majority are girls in the Asia Pacific region.
Many of the worst forms of child labor are a problem in India, Nepal and Pakistan, where RugMark operates. These include child trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, bonded child labor, child domestic work and the recruitment and use of children for armed conflict or drug trafficking.

RugMark is a global nonprofit organization working to end illegal child labor in the carpet industry and to offer educational opportunities to children in India, Nepal, and Pakistan. Since its launch in 1995 child labor in the carpet industry has been reduced by two-thirds (66%).

Demand for child labor is so high that desperate parents sell their children into bondage. According to UNICEF, 14% of children in India between the ages of 5 and 14 are engaged in child labor activities including carpet production.

While some people mistakenly think it is better when all members of a family work, child labor actually makes poverty worse. Child workers come cheaply and sometimes at no cost, and drive down wages for adult laborers. Plus children who work forfeit an education that could have helped them achieve a higher standard of living as adults. Child laborers are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, are subject to long hours of physically demanding and unrelenting work, and suffer from deprivation and poor health.

In spite of a government ban on debt bondage, hardship continues to be a reality for tens of thousands of former bonded labourers who are among the poorest and most neglected citizens of Nepal.
These people, known as Kamaiya, have been given temporary land plots by the government, but live in squalor. They often rely on the assistance from aid groups. This woman was given a goat as a source of income.








Economic growth has taken place almost exclusively in urban areas. The rural economy has been virtually stagnant, especially in the mountainous regions. Life expectancy in the capital Kathmandu is over 70 years.
By contrast, in the far western mountain communities, like this village in Mugu district, it is below 40 years. The Maoist insurgency found fertile ground in these poor communities.





A movement known as Bonded Labour Liberation Front- Bandhua Mukti Morcha (BMM) was formed in 1981 to wage a battle against the pernicious bonded labour system in India. Administrative and political will to carry out the Constitutional mandate and enforce prohibitive laws of the land failed to produce any results. Against all odds, Bandhua Mukti Morcha has achieved the release of over 1, 24,000 bonded Indians from the shackles of slavery. A large number of them have been rehabilitated. From the Carpet Industry alone, about a thousand children have been rescued and restored to their parents. Their rehabilitation has been monitored effectively. BMM has started a campaign for the provision of non-formal, full time education for these children, along with the supply of nutrition to each and also some food security to their poor families.

As a result of BMM’s efforts, the leaders of the leading political parties have expressed their concern on the issue of child labour and often made a mention of it in their election manifestos in Parliamentary elections. Bandhua Mukti Morcha has been campaigning for a national minimum wage equivalent to first-day salary of a class IV employee in Government service. Its revision is to be done on cost price index as is done for the Government employees. The State Governments may fix minimum wage according to the local conditions but not below the National Minimum Wage.

Bandhua Mukti Morcha holds that slavery persists in our age in various forms. The bonded labour system is one of them. Child labour is another kind of bonded labour both arise out of socio-economic and historical reasons. India, the largest democratic country in the world according to their estimates has 65 million bonded child labourers, and 300 million adult labourers living a life of bondage and contemporary forms of slavery. This is despite Constitutional guarantees and prohibitive laws like the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976, the Child labour (Prohibition and Regulation Act) 1986 and International Conventions on the subject. Child labour (5 years to 14 years of age) is rampant not only in agriculture but also in industries such as those manufacturing matches, locks, carpets, stone quarries, brick kilns, tanneries and diamond cutting and polishing units. These children are denied their fundamental right to childhood, to education, to play and to dream like a normal child. They have to labour for more than 8 hours every day. Legal and human rights battles on their behalf have been successfully fought in the Supreme Court of India. Parliament too has been approached. United Nations Human Rights Commission, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have been sensitised. Yet, the 20 year-old struggles is only a beginning. A lot more remains to be done.

Bandhua Mukti Morcha has been making a demand for a National Commission on Bonded Labour with judicial and financial powers. But successive governments have failed to do so. Bandhua Mukti Morcha has, therefore, constituted a Citizens’ Commission on Bonded and Child Labour, with eminent persons of political, social and judicial integrity as members. They include former Judges of the Supreme Court of India, eminent artists, journalists, lawyers and social activists.

The practice of bonded labour violates the following International Human Rights Conventions whereas India is a party to all of them and such is legally bound to comply with their terms. They are:

Convention on the Suppression of Slave Trade and Slavery, 1926;
Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery Trade, 1956;
Forced Labour Convention, 1930;
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966;
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ECOSOC), 1966;
Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 1989.

By Cecile Enie

TREASURE EVERY LIFE

TREASURE EVERY LIFE

Perhaps, we harbor thoughts that the Human Rights message of ‘equal opportunities for all’ is a recent or should I say modern phenomenon. Going back to the books of books the Holy Bible, the issue of equality has always been and essential point profess my God Almighty.

God has compassion and love for us all no matter our statues in life but more for the needy and those who have quest for the living water as God puts it. To show his meekness and humility he was of a lowly birth called Jesus Christ.

The parables of Christ are always so interesting and inspiring like this one from Mathew 25: 35-40 translated from the New American Standard Bible (1995) – For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.'

"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?’And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'
"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

In another Bible story Jesus informed a Rich man He was coming to his home for dinner and the Richman prepared lavishly, then a Beggar knocked on the door, thinking that was Jesus he opened up, seeing the Beggar he asked him to leave ‘cause he is expecting an important guest. Jesus never showed up, so when he saw Jesus next he asked Jesus and Jesus replied, I did come but you chased me away. – Jesus was the beggar.
Drawing from this, how many Beggars, Destitute, Disabled/Handicaps, Orphans or Strangers in general who are in need have we shown kindness, love and affection to?

I really don’t know about you out there - Individuals, Stakeholders/ Policy Makers and Governments.
How ever, these coldness, aggressiveness, minimization, discrimination and nonchalant attitudes toward those in need still prevail in our today’s society. Most times the way humans treat their fellow human beings leaves me with the feeling of coldness, sadness and exasperation.

From my close association with Orphans, Handicaps/Disabled and Juvenile Delinquents I realized most of those put in charge to cater for the less privilege most often instead exploit and shun them whereas the greatest desire of these classes of people is to belong and be part and parcel of the contemporary society. They don’t want to be limited; they have talents, visions, prospects and needs but require just the push and avenues to explore and exhibit them.

A role Model of someone with disabilities yet made resourceful and outstanding accomplishments is Helen Adam Keller born on 27 June 1880 in Tuscumbia, a small rural town in Northwest Alabama, USA. At age nineteen months she fell sick when her illness subsided it became apparent that the illness had left her blind and deaf but this did not limit Helen’s ambitions. We still have the likes of Helen in our present day society and with technology evolving livelihood conditions for those with disabilities and less opportunity has to be favorable.

Helen has many inspiring quotes some of them are – ‘Knowledge is love and light and vision’. ‘The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision, it is a terrible thing to see and have no vision’. ‘Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet’. ‘Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved’.

Description:

Children having fun at the Kome School in Tokyo, Japan.

The school, operated by the city, is the oldest educational institution in Tokyo for disabled children.

Copyright: (UN Photo #143938C )

Cecile Enie with some of the Orphans

at the St Valintine Orphanage Buea, Cameroon

I have also come across many Disabled/Handicap persons who are ambitious, industrious and lucrative but their societies limit their prospects. There is a piece I enjoy prepared by Mr Njie Fidelis the Provincial Chief of Statistics and Communication of the South West Provincial Delegation of Social Affairs, Cameroon.
As an Albino he also faces marginalization. The caption of the piece is – ‘WHO IS A DISABLED’ - The key message is – Treasure every life and value every Disabled Person. The message goes thus-

If you fail to SEE the person but only DISABILITY
Then who is BLIND.

If you cannot HEAR your brother’s cry for justice
Then who is DEAF.

If you do not COMMUNICATE with your sister but separate her from you.
Then who is MENTALLY HANDICAPPED.

If you do not STAND up for the rights of all persons.
Then who is CRIPPLE.

Your attitude towards persons with Disabilities may be our Biggest handicapped and yours too.

Visiting the Rehabilitation Institute for the Blind in Buea, Cameroon known as Bulu Blind Center on the walls of their hall were posted some touching and mind- searching messages such as –

*Treasure every life, value every blind person
* Disability is not inability
* We join hands to bar the way to AIDS
* The best way to be happy is to make others happy
* We need acceptance in ordinary schools
* No action for the disabled without the Disabled
* Harden not to listen to our voices
* Equal opportunities should be reality

The cardboard paper titled - OUR PLEA states-

Give us greater access to education and empowerment.
Do not reject us.
We are an integral part of society.

At the Juvenile Delinquency Center in Buea, Cameroon known as Borstal Institute, the phases of observational learning constitute – Attention, Retention, Reproduction and Motivation.

The dilemma of people in need, reminds me of this Christian song –
Tempted and trials we’re oft made to wonder
Why it should be thus all the day long
While there are others living about us
Never molested though in the wrong…..

Please let’s say NO to segregation, discrimination, exploitation, slavery and corruption and seek strategies to curb and ameliorate the situation of those in need, without which the population crisis, human rights activities, the UN Millennium Goals and other movements with the guise of propagating and ensuring a better world for all will never be accomplished.

By Cecile Enie

GENDER ISSUES

THE WOMAN LOST DIGNITY

The female anatomy by nature is so refined and delicate – the body is softer with finer curves and having the ability to reproduce life by child bearing is the most wonderful aspect and mystery of being a woman.

I personally appreciate the fact that I was created a woman thus, carry myself with self esteem. Even so, I cherish the way I was formed and do little or nothing to alter my looks. The reason why I am not much into make up in any form how ever, but staying within the basics of looking good and presentably. Yes, I like looking natural but then that’s just about being me, having my own identity and personality every day, every time.

Self esteem and confidence is inbuilt. We need to be our own models and cut out for ourselves a place in the society. Naturally we must be contented with whom we are if not there is a problem psychologically. Many females in our society lack these tenets of self esteem and confidence thereby does not belief in themselves but wishes to be someone else I shall term it ‘personality covetousness’- instead of creating and exalting their own personality.

I watch with scorn, disgust and awe, to see how women have lost their respect and dignity, jeopardizing their virtues. The prevalence of this ‘jezebelic’ syndrome has hampered our vital statues which we are to treasure and uphold. In essence we have traded our morality, integrity and dignity.

We profess empowerment, equality, marginalization, discrimination, servility and liberation, how do we attain these? Is it by allowing ourselves to be misused or rather some of us instead of holding our bodies sacred, we just enjoy misusing our own bodies with vile acts, trampling on our self respect?

Women have gone beyond dressing in a more revealing and embarrassing manner. I guess to entice and show off their full view with no remorse or misgiving. A wise saying stipulates we hope for something not seen but when we completely expose our bodies in public, a descent male will no longer have craving for such a woman- there is nothing left for him to anticipate or desire.
In the entertainment world the male Entertainers are usually fully clothed while the female dancers are almost naked. Women use their bodies to make a living known as prostitution. Some countries especially in Europe are in favor of prostitution and it is regarded as a profession so Prostitutes are liable to pay taxes, while in a country like the United State of America Prostitution is illegal except for parts of Nevada.
Sweden is the first country in the world to decriminalize prostitution for the Prostitutes, but criminalize the act of buying sex.

How ever, the fact is, these Prostitutes and Striptease succumb to all sort of absurd dealings and treatments from their Clientele and Employers. Some women perpetuate this act by running brothels in the process they do not only involve in trafficking innocent girls but also exploit them.

Watching some television programs in the US like the ‘Girl Next Door’, I ponder why luscious and good looking girls who have all the opportunities to make a decent life should subject themselves to such indecency by exposing their nakedness for the fun of it.

My heart aches when I see how female folks display animosity and humiliate themselves for men and money. Situations like this could be seen in the program ‘Mommas Boy’, ‘Jerry Springer show’ and ‘Flavor of Love’.
I am still puzzle as to what frame of mind are these females to conduct themselves as such especially when I sometimes appraise the man in question.

My dissolution stem from the fact that, I cannot comprehend why a man has to have romance and sex with several girls in the same setting just to choose one. Above all these girls engage in to quarrels, arguments, fights, insult each other using mean words, cry yet they all still talk about love. Common!

Going by the actual perspective of love, I don’t think that is how it is exhibited. I’m agin the issue that a group of young and viable women should waste by involving themselves in an elimination contest. Condescending so low and allowing themselves to be used and humiliated with no consideration of guarding their self respect. I find this so weird.
Considering the role of the media should be to inform, educate and create awareness with the objective of positivism, I wonder about the desired outcome for such programs aired.

Sex relationships by all means should be something discreet, passionate, exciting and sacred. We should endeavor not to be used but be of use to engrave a mark in our society as women and pave a legacy of morals for posterity. Please my female folks I entreat and pray we imbue in us self confidence and engage in respectful and resourceful activities in order to harness our integrity; restore our morality, reinforce our dignity so that we can procure standards in humanity.

By Cecile Enie

HUMAN TRAFFICKING

TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.

Like bonded labour, child abuse, trafficking in persons also known as human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery and it is considered an abuse to human rights. Traffickers often prey on individuals who are poor, frequently unemployed or underemployed and who may lack access to social safety nets, predominantly women and children in certain countries. Victims are often lured with false promises of good jobs and better lives, and then forced to work under brutal and inhuman conditions. People are trafficked both between countries and within the borders of a state.

Trafficking affects countries and families in every continent but due to its hidden nature it is difficult to get accurate statistics on those affected. How ever, The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that at any one time at least 2.4 million people have been trafficked and are being subjected to sexual or labour exploitation.

Most coverage of trafficking issue has focused on trafficking for sexual exploitation, but around a third of all trafficked people are used exclusive for labour exploitation like – domestic work, catering agricultural work, packing and processing.

From statistics, about 98 percent of trafficking for sexual exploitation affects mostly women and girls, but trafficking for labour also affects more women than men since about 56 percent of the cases being women and girls thus reflecting how women and girls are vulnerable to all sort of abuses and violence.

Reports from Anti- Slavery international states that the United Kingdom (UK) Government research shows there is an estimated 4,000 victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation in the UK at any one time. The police identified 167 victims of trafficking, including 16 children, during Pentameter 2 - a six month UK-wide operation to tackle trafficking for sexual exploitation which began in October 2007. Anti-Slavery International estimates a further thousand more men, women and children are trafficked for the purpose of forced labour at any one time. Anti – Slavery International 2006 research documented trafficking across several major industries including agriculture, construction, food processing and packaging, nursing, hospitality, domestic work and the restaurant trade.

Anti-Slavery International, founded in 1839, is the world's oldest international human rights organisation and the only charity in the United Kingdom to work exclusively against slavery and related abuses. They work at local, national and international levels to eliminate the system of slavery around the world.

© Karen Robinson/Panos Pictures Jiera (19, Lithuanian) was a victim of human trafficking: “My life has been ruined by two men I thought were my friends. They trafficked me into prostitution when I was 17.” She has taken refuge in drink and drugs

According to Anti- slavery International, trafficking involves transporting people away from the communities in which they live, through the use of violence, deception or coercion, for the purpose of their exploitation. When children are trafficked, no violence, deception or coercion needs to be involved. Simply transporting them into exploitative conditions constitutes trafficking

Progress on tackling all forms of human trafficking constitute a criminal offence in the UK and carry a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison. There have been 92 convictions for trafficking for sexual exploitation up to January 2009, but only four convictions for trafficking for forced labour. On 17 December 2008, the UK ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, obliging the UK to provide minimum standards of protection and assistance to trafficked people, including access to compensation, and tougher action to prosecute traffickers.

Despite progress on tackling trafficking, compensation remains inaccessible for victims. Compensation plays an important role in the recovery of a trafficked person, allowing them to recover from physical, emotional and financial losses. It also serves as a deterrent for traffickers.
Victims of trafficking have the right to compensation and there are four mechanisms in place in the UK for trafficked people to apply for compensation. These are criminal courts, civil courts, the national compensation fund, and in some cases at an employment tribunal.

It is extremely rare for a trafficked person to receive compensation. Anti-Slavery International's review of 41 criminal court cases, resulting in 95 convictions, revealed that there had not been a single compensation order, even in cases where assets had been confiscated from the trafficker. To date, there have been only five known successful compensation awards through the national compensation fund known as the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme, and only one successful civil suit on behalf of a trafficked person. These exceptions were only possible due to significant investment of resources by lawyers acting pro bono and support organisations.

Various obstacles prevent trafficked people from accessing compensation. Currently, compensation appears to be seen as a marginal issue by the Government and relevant bodies such as the police, prosecution and judiciary. It is not a key element of anti-trafficking policies and measures. Little guidance or training on compensation is provided for the police, prosecution or judiciary, who consequently have low awareness of the issue. Insufficient support and difficulties in accessing legal aid provide a further obstacle. Undocumented workers, who may constitute a significant number of those trafficked for forced labour, experience particular obstacles as a result of their immigration status and find themselves essentially excluded from the protection of employment law.

In July 2007, the first successful compensation awards were made to two young Romanian women. Both were trafficked to the UK and forced into prostitution. They suffered rape as well as physical and emotional abuse. After several years the women managed to escape their traffickers and found refuge at the Poppy Project. Both women were witnesses at the trial of their trafficker, who was subsequently convicted of rape and controlling prostitution and sentenced to 21 years imprisonment.

One of the women trafficked at the age of 16, received £62,000 compensation, which included £22,000 for sexual abuse and £40,000 for lost earnings and opportunities. The other woman, who was 13 when she was trafficked, received £36,500 which included £16,500 for sexual abuse and £20,000 for lost opportunities.

During the first Pentameter police operation in 2006, £250,000 was seized from traffickers. The Home Office reported that the assets were transferred to the Treasury, with half of the money diverted back to law enforcement and prosecution bodies and the other half used by the Home Office for asset recovery and crime reduction projects. Police recovered more than £500,000 worth of cash from arrested offenders during Pentameter 2, and court orders are in place to seize further criminal assets. There is no sign that the Government will take any action to ensure that victims receive a portion of this money as compensation.

On December 17, 2008, the UK Government ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings, obliging the UK to provide minimum standards of protection and assistance to trafficked people. The UK had signed this crucial convention, which entered into force on February 1, 2008, in March 2007. Anti-Slavery International supporters and partners campaigned for the UK to sign and ratify the Convention since it opened for signature in May 2005.

The ratification means the UK will formally become part of a Europe-wide agreement about setting minimum standards for protecting and supporting trafficking victims.
It also strengthens the UK’s ability to catch the criminals that exploit victims of trafficking and underlines the government’s long-term commitment to tackling this horrific crime.
Key benefits of ratifying the convention include:

A new national referral mechanism, providing a nationally agreed process to help frontline staff identify victims of trafficking and offer them support.
Strengthened arrangements for looking after victims, including a 45 day reflection and recovery period, and the possibility of a one-year residence permit for victims.
Better support for victims in giving information to police, which will help authorities bring those who exploit them to justice.

By Cecile Enie

Human defaults

MY CREATOR ‘MISFIRED’!

Our present society is plagued with immorality, criminal intents, personal insecurity and lack of self confidence, deceit, promiscuity, inventors, abuse, and violation of human rights. Romans 2: 29 – 31 has cited more of these human defaults.

I always say to myself, God of Mercy will you still keep your promise not to destroy earth? As a Christian, I am familiar with the end time message of strange happenings, nevertheless, I remain agape, bemused when I read, listen and see what happens daily in our contemporary society- humans transforming from their original form, known as transsexual, we also have other absurd human practices like homosexuality, incest and the most disgusting and ridiculous humans copulating with animals and birds.

Biblically Romans chapter 2 from verses 21 – 32 delve on this. Verse 25 states – ‘who changed the truth of God into a lie…..’ the following verses 26 and 27 goes on- ‘for this cause God gave them vile affection; for even their women did change the natural use in to which is against nature; and likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman. Burned in their lust one towards another, men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves the recompense of their error which was meet’.

Unfortunately most of our Christian churches that are to procure moral rectitude in our society are not helping out much. I ponder if our Evangelists, Preachers and others so- called Men of God are perhaps more interested in the fact that offerings, tithes and sowing of seeds in a larger congregation brings in more revenue and swells up the church coffers which some refer to as - Church Business; an easy way for some people to enrich themselves with the pretext of spreading the Good News.

I am absolutely in the know that God came for the unrighteous but I guess if we have to convince and convert people to Christ we are to tell them the gospel truth and encourage them to abide by it. The Lord God is not a compromising God for we cannot say we are ‘born again’, ‘born of God’ yet we continue with our hidden and evil tendencies.

I belief the reason why the scripture says “many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity’’ the book of Mathew 7: 21 -24 expatiate on this.

With such human tendencies, I perceive an impending doom because when God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, their atrocities were not as grave as what we have today considering science has evolve substantially. Sometimes though with recurring natural disasters, I hold we have started experiencing the wrath of God. As the saying goes – ‘the evil that men do lives after them’ but I reckon – the evil that men do lives with them.

According to an internet report on - Transsexual Women's Successes: Links and Photos by Lynn Conway
Approximately 30,000 to 40,000 postoperative transsexual women live in the United States, and many thousands more are now in the process of gender transition here. These numbers are much larger than commonly assumed by the public because a veil of invisibility hides the true nature and extent of the transsexual condition. Especially hidden are large numbers of highly successful women who have fully transitioned. The reason is that most successful women live in "stealth mode" or are "woodworked". They leave their pasts behind and hide in plain sight in order to avoid social stigmatization and get on with their new lives. Their personal successes insure that they assimilate and blend right into society.

The social invisibility of successful women who have undergone gender corrections supports the notion that male-to-female transsexualism is extremely rare. However, intense transsexualism is not all that uncommon. Recent calculations indicate that the condition occurs in about 1 out of every 250 to 500 children born as boys, and that about 1 in every 2500 males in the U.S. has already undergone surgical sex reassignment. Transsexualism is thus more than twice as prevalent as multiple sclerosis (MS), cerebral palsy or cleft lip/palate conditions.

The invisibility of these successes supports notions that gender transitions often have rather sad outcomes. At present, the media only spotlights transsexual people on two occasions, namely when "someone well-known changes sex" and when someone is a victim of discrimination, harassment or attack. Media stories about someone's "sex change" are never followed-up to find out what happened years later. Instead stories always focus on pre-transition life and struggles during transition and never on their life afterwards. This lack of balance in exposure shapes society's notion that transition leads to social marginalization or worse, because we "never hear about them again". Only stories of occasional social failures and victims of harassment and attacks remain visible longer term.

Lacking successful role models, and confronted with deliberately staged, stereotypically-prurient images of "transsexuals" from media like the Jerry Springer Show, young trans girls are often terrified to tell anyone about their condition. Constantly reminded of the violence and discrimination that Trans people face, but unaware that large numbers of successful women get beyond such difficulties, many young transsexual girls can't see any way out of their awful predicament. Social stigmatization of transsexualism leads many young people to internalize a lot of undeserved shame, embarrassment and guilt about their condition. As a result, young transsexual girls often waste precious years before they seek help, and many never find a way to correct their gender condition.

Recently the veil of invisibility has been lifting, as many post-operative women all around the world have begun creating websites to help others. Some of these women are quietly "out" within the TS community. Others share their stories by being "virtually out" (VO) only via the web (while otherwise remaining woodworked or in stealth). We are very fortunate to finally be able to learn about their lives, as they become listed on Webpages such as this one. Lynn hopes that more and more successful women will quietly come out, and feel comfortable sharing their stories this way via the web….

Many of these women had to suffer terrible trials in order to transition, especially those who did so years ago. Some rose from extremely humble beginnings, including living on the streets, and yet succeeded anyways. Others had easier transitions in more recent times in the more enlightened western countries. A few were even fortunate enough to have had the support of their parents when they were young. As you'll see, this webpage isn't meant to be an "honor roll" or whatever. Instead it is meant to be place where these many diverse yet representative role models can come forward and become more visible - role models who are mostly accessible via the internet for interactions and help…..

The thing that makes these women "successes" isn't how far they've gone in their careers, or how much money they've made, or how pretty some of them are, or how well known some are as entertainers. Those accomplishments are very meaningful, and show that transitioning doesn't have to hold a woman back from achieving traditional social measures of success. However, the real successes we find here are ones of the heart. They are successes in living "life in the large". We see it in the happy faces, and sense it in between the lines of their stories. These are the successes of women who have survived and corrected their earlier transsexualism, and gone on to find joy and comfort and peace in their lives.

Taken together, our stories will gradually help change people's views of the transsexual condition. After all, we are happy and productive contributors in all walks of life: as doctors and lawyers, as scientists, engineers and programmers, as airline pilots, as entrepreneurs, managers and office workers, as university professors and students, in politics, in education, in law enforcement, in the skilled trades, in modeling and in entertainment. The realities and completeness of our physical gender transformations cannot be denied. Many of us are wives, lovers or partners in long-term loving relationships. You can put a compelling human face on the transsexual condition by browsing the websites linked from these pages, which contain information about the experiences of these successful women.

Lynn hopes that these women's stories provide hope, encouragement and role models to others, especially to those young transsexual girls-to-be who are facing gender transition. As teenagers they (and their parents and loved ones) need to learn that a complete correction of their gender condition is now possible by applying the knowledge gained by the pathfinders who have gone before, and by exploiting the miracles of modern medicine. They also need to learn of the profound advantages of undergoing gender correction while young, as opposed to living in angst in the wrong gender for decades and then finally transitioning, in desperation, late in life. If parents can just learn to see that their transsexual child is really a "girl with a physical problem" rather than a "boy with a mental problem", then that child's future is especially hopeful. With parental love and support, a young transsexual girl can now reach for her dreams, and go on to live a full and joyous life as a woman.

It is sad to know that the wisdom and knowledge bestowed on us for providence, science is now using it to defile what God created and said it was good thereby challenging the rules of nature. I therefore suppose the Transgender/ Transsexuals, Homosexuals – Gay/Lesbians and a host of other natures violators would just have it – My Creator Misfired, made a drastic mistake, this is suppose to be my real and actual anatomy.

What irks most is the fact that the Gay/ Lesbians have the effrontery to desire children, how can they expect to make these children with their kind of lifestyle? Then they go adopting and mislead an innocent child. If they hold what they have opted for is the best kind of life which the society most accept and abide – what do the hold for posterity with regards to the fact that with their kind of relationship having kids is unlikely.

As a teenager I used to love the group ABBA and equally learnt to sing some of their lyrics especially the song titled - On and On and On. That was in the 80s but today as an adult what I perceive around me makes me understand better the actual meaning of the first verse of the song. It goes thus-

I was at a party and this feller said to me "Something bad is happening, I'm sure you do agree People care for nothing, no respect for human rights Evil times are coming, we are in for darker nights" I said, "Who are you to talk about impending doom" He got kinda wary as he looked around the room He said, "I'm a minister, a big shot in the state" I said, "I just can't believe it, boy I think it's great Brother can you tell me what is right and what is wrong" He said, "Keep on rocking baby, 'til the night is gone"

By Enie Cecile

WOMEN'S RIGHTS

WHY EMACIPATION OF WOMEN?

By Enie Ndoh Cecile

I do hereby express my profound gratitude for this occasion that has offered this privileged opportunity to put this massage across to women around the globe. You know for millions of years back, women have been referred to as the weaker sex, with fowl brains. The men have always dominated them, taking the laws into their hands to treat women the way deem fit. Some feel the woman’s place is in the kitchen, to bare children, care for the house, husband and kids. Others by their culture consider that their sole duty is to be a ‘breadwinner’ by providing feeding money and some other financial fulfillments. Finally, it is the woman who caters for her children, usually single-handed, especially when they are still young. While the man if not at his job side should be drinking with friends or enjoying himself one way or the other, only God knows how.

Most men feel women are naïve, so therefore know nothing and cannot talk anything reasonable or substantial; popularly known as “women’s talk”. With this notion they neither seek nor adhere to their advice. To others, women cannot stand certain jobs. They forget completely that there are some things a woman can do which some men would not dare attempt. In fact, to some men with polygamous culture, women are things you collect and pile as and exhibition of their wealth. They therefore have taken upon themselves with the natural phenomenon that there are more females than males, so they marry these women to show signs of machismos and wealth. These women are in turn supposed to worship this man as their king.

Today women are striving with the zeal to prove their men wrong with their favorite saying “WHAT A MAN CAN DO, A WOMAN CAN DO EVEN BETTER”. Women of this generation are fighting to prove their men wrong and the statement right. Now women maintain executive and powerful positions as – Presidents, Pilots, Astronauts, Director Generals, Ambassadors, Prime Ministers, Parliamentarians, Vice-Chancellors and other top executive and challenging jobs. Some of these women have proven to hold these key positions even better than most men could.

I presume this is due to the natural love and prowess God had given them, to use to care and raise their children and run their homestead effectively. Women as mothers from generation to generation have discovered it can be used to build a nation and in effect a more peaceful and united world.

The African woman should also keep up to this challenge of women liberation and violence, so that it can be wiped out. To be able to make it and prove to some of our men folk who are still unenlightened about the capabilities of a woman.

To achieve this goal, we have to strive and thrive for higher heights in education and what ever resourceful activities we engage in. We must study whatever we prefer. Our efforts should not take into consideration some of the negative thoughts, expressions or utterances about educated and affluent women in the society.

The Rural women in the village should be enlightened on how to keep themselves from having too many children with yearly intervals, for them to stay healthy and live longer to see these children grow. As such they should be educated on family planning and their women’s rights. They should be exposed and provided with easier ways to carry out their duties, that is, labor saving devices should be introduced for grinding, tilling and toiling. Portable water supply should also be provided in our rural communities since women and children domestic chores involve providing water for home use. In most suburbs setting they travel distances to fetch water and firewood.

As concern violence on women in which some men have taken upon themselves to beat women should stop. I uphold women are exactly like the men, but for the difference in our anatomy. So why can’t we have 50/50 in our relationships for us to respect the men and they in turn show us some respect rather than treating us like one of their children or slaves. We all as human beings are liable to commit offences, make errors at one point or the other, so why most a woman be beaten because she offended her husband. Is it also logical for her to beat her spouse if he also does something mean? Why not quietly call her attention to it and as a good woman she will surely apologies and take corrections. Women in general and the African woman in particular should strive to be career women, to fight to be liberated and put a stop to violence. They should aim to achieve prosperity in life. As Ruth Rose puts it ‘the purpose of a prospering woman is to show how natural it is to prosper. Prosperity is experiencing a balance in life. It is attaining what we want on mental, physical, emotional, spiritual and financial levels. Prosperity is the natural result of opening our minds, willing to act on our ideas from this perspective, to prosper have nothing to do with being either male or female’.

What puzzles me most is this issue of a woman who gives birth to only female children or have more females than males, which are usually considered a bad omen or curse or taboo especially among most African cultures that belief in male inheritance. I do not even know what word or expression to use, but such instances usually leaves some of the men in a melancholic mood as if it was the woman’s fault. There are cases whereby woman and children have been neglected or sent packing after lots of insults from the man.

Funny enough, the truth and facts in child bearing shows that a man’s genetic composition entails both the X and Y chromosomes, meant for producing both the male and female sexes. As such, if he releases biologically the X chromosome, which meets with the woman’s fertile egg, the result would be the birth of the female child. In the case of releasing the Y chromosome, the result would be the birth of the male child.

Nevertheless, these female children at times are more advantageous when it comes to assisting their parents, since that’s what parents hope for. I do plead with women, not to even wish to be a man before engaging in any activities. Even if it is wrestling, boxing or military training, sky diving whichever you are interested in, dangerous or not if you have the guts you just go ahead and do it. To make these men reason and be aware that, the women are no longer that part of which God took from them, but full flesh human beings like them.

Women of Africa, please come out of your shells, wake up and fight for your rights, like your counterparts in the other part of the globe. Be certain, due to your natural tenderness of love and peace, you are sure to be greater and better leaders in future.

As food for thought I leave you to digest this message from Gold Touch International.

BE TOUGH WOMAN

Be tough woman

Be brave.

Go out fearlessly and do the things

that your heart desires to do

You will be counted in the world

don’t allow fear to paralyze you.

Stand up and face the challenges

of life squarely in the face,

however great it may be.

Forge ahead and conquer

march on to victory that awaits you

No one will toss victory that awaits you

you have to win yourself

Carve out a place for yourself in the sun woman.

Let no fear destroy that great dream of yours

don’t fear to be laughed at

don’t fear to be criticized

don’t fear to fail.

Don’t fear to be thought crazy when you dare

to do those things that others fear to do.

Be tough and march on
You will conquer, women

you have what it takes

to win all the victories

that your heart desires to win.
Be tough and win.

WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Female Genital Mutilation - A Heinous Practice
By Cecile Ndoh Enie

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or female circumcision is one of the oldest and most harmful, traditional or cultural practices affecting the health of women and girls in some communities around the world.

According to a Wikipedia report, the traditional cultural practice predates both Islam and Christianity. A Greek papyrus from 163 B.C mentions girls in Egypt undergoing FGM. It is widely accepted to have originated in Egypt and the Nile valley at the time of the Pharaohs. Evidence from mummies has shown FGM present. While the spread of FGM is unknown, the procedure is now practiced among Muslims, Christians and Animist.

A World Health Organization Report (WHO) stated that, between 100 – 140 million girls and women in the world are estimated to have undergone such procedure, and 3 million girls are estimated to be at risk of undergoing FGM every year. In addition, FGM has been documented in 28 African countries as well as several countries in Asia and Middle East. Some form of practice has also been reported from other countries including certain ethnic groups in Central and South America. There is also evidence of increasing number of girls and women living outside Europe, who have undergone or may be undergoing FGM.
In Cameroon, it is practiced in some villages in the South west, Far North and Eastern Provinces. Around 60% of all Nigerian women experience FGM and it is most common in the south, where up to 85% of women undergo it at some point in their lives.

The practice varies from area to area. In this regard, some perform the operation on infants as young as a few days old or on children between the ages seven to ten years or adolescents and often-on women who are about to marry. More so, the type of surgical forms differs.

WHO separates FGM procedures into four types, - The removal or splitting of the clitoral hood termed Hoodectomy. The excision of the clitoris with partial or total excision of the labia minora, also known as Khafd, meaning reduction in Arabic. The excision of part or all of the external genitalia and stitching/ narrowing of the vaginal opening known as infibulation. What are left are a very smooth surface and a small opening to permit urination and menstrual discharge. The artificial opening is some time not larger than the flammable end of a matchstick. It is the most extreme form and accounts for about 15% of all FGM procedures. Infibulation is also known as Pharaonic circumcision. The fourth type is other forms and may not involve any tissue removal at all. This includes a diverse range of practices, including prickling the clitoris with needless, burning or scaring the genitals as well as ripping or tearing of the vagina or introducing herbs into the vagina to cause bleeding and a narrow vagina.

Like other crude traditional practices such as widowhood, women perform FGM and this ritual is mostly accompanied by celebrations and often takes place in a special hidden place away from the community. The women Excisors who carry out these operations acquired their skills from their mothers or female relatives. They are also the community’s traditional birth attendants. In most cases anesthetic is not administered instead, three or four women hold down the child while the operation is done and this takes between 10 – 20 minutes depending on its nature. The wound is treated by applying mixtures of local herbs such as, earth, cow-dung, ash or butter depending on the skills of the Excisor.

The motive behind FGM is on the grounds that, it decreases women sexual desire, hygiene aesthetics, facility of sexual relations, fertility, preserving the women’s virginity before marriage and fidelity then after, marking the coming of age of the female child and controlling sexuality. Although FGM is practiced within particular religious sub-cultures, the arguments used to justify FGM vary. They range from health- related to social benefits.

Generally, largely rural women living in traditional societies preserve the practice. Some societies hold in order to be clean for marriage, female circumcision is a pre -condition. Among the Bambara in Mali, it is believed that, if the clitoris touches the head of a baby being born the child will die. The clitoris is seen as the male characteristic of a woman. In order to enhance her femininity, this male part of her has to be removed.

Health wise, complications resulting from deep cuts and infected instruments can cause death. Hemorrhage can occur during circumcision, or accidental cuts to other organs can also lead to heavy loss of blood. Acute infections are commonplace when operations of infibulations are carried out in unhygienic surroundings and with un-sterilized instruments like - kitchen knife, razor blade, a piece of glass or even sharp fingernails. Even so, tetanus and general septicemia, chronic infection can also lead to infertility and anemia. Considering the same tools are usually repeated on numerous girls, it increases the risk of blood-transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.

Haematocolpos or the inability to pass menstrual blood (because the remaining opening is often too small) can lead to infection of other organs and also infertility, obstetric. The most frequent health problem results from vicious scars in the clitoral zone after excision. These scars open during childbirth and cause the anterior perineum to tear, leading to hemorrhaging that is often difficult to stop.

Psychologically, most children experience recurring nightmare. Girls, who are FGM victims, have come to terms with the fact that they are not like majority of their friends. Thus, mood swings and irritability, constant states of depression and anxiety have all been noted among infibulated girls.

un-sterilized instruments used for FGM

The practice violates among other International Human Rights Laws, the right of the child to “enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health as laid down in Article 24 (paras 1and 3) of the convention on the rights of the child.

Still from a WHO report, many countries have put in place policies and legislation to ban FGM. The number of women who do not want to continue the practice is increasing, and there are indications that the prevalence is declining in some countries, and that it is less prevalent in younger than in older age groups.
Despite, these successes however, the overall decline has been very slow. Hence, to accelerate the process of abandonment of the practice, there is an urgent need for increased and improved work by all actors, since there is evidence, now that we know what is necessary to stimulate large- scale and speedy abandonment.
More so, some highly successful projects, increased knowledge about FGM and the reasons for its continuation as well as experiences with a vast variety of interventions, possible to significantly reduce the prevalence within one generation. This momentum suggesting that such a change is possible and that the willingness to invest the necessary resources can be achieved.

WHO is working on several fronts to contribute to the elimination of FGM. WHO is also contributing by supporting and initiating research within several fields. Another important contribution from WHO is working towards improved health care for the millions of girls and women who are living with the consequences of FGM.
The United Nations Fund for Population Activities recognizes February 6th as the International Day against FGM. The push to end FGM by WHO and other Global Health Organizations have been for several decades but, due to the importance in traditional and religious life, the practice remains in many societies.