Mutilation as a Chastity Belt

"Those who practiced it [female genital cutting] felt it was their private issue. People can be very angry, like us, in the beginning. No one wants their tradition to be judged negatively."
"[When Molly Melching, community worker] brought this information, [the harmful effects of genital cutting], I was very defensive and angry. After a few backs and forths with her, I realized it was very harmful."
"At the beginning, people would rather die than abandon it [the practise of genital cutting]. No one would believe this could happen, to stand publicly against family, government."
"[But], we were very diplomatic. Sometimes we felt shy or wanted to run away. But even if I was rejected, I went back [to each village visited]. You have to persevere."
"My advice is to be patient and analyze each situation and not to impose your thoughts on people. If you impose, people can be defensive."
Demba Kiawara, 80, village imam, Keur Simbara, Senegal

"[Trying to influence people whose custom it was that female genital cutting was an absolute religious requirement had to be done patiently and carefully, otherwise ending the practise] would involve severe sanctions against any girl who is not cut and would even mean she might be ostracized."
"Mr. Diawara's effectiveness in urgently informing small communities of the dangers inherent in continued female cutting resulted because] he is not judgemental and does not impose. Rather, he explains that this is not a religious obligation and that it has harmful health consequences."
Molly Melching, 67, American community worker, educator, Senegal

"People like me who started school but didn't finish are stubborn and hard to convince."
"At first I was against ending cutting. But we hold Demba dear [and eventually] we came to know what he was saying was grounded in truth."
Mamadou Konate, 59, Keur Simbara

"I was very surprised because we got it from our ancestors."
"When we got all the details, we then said, 'This is something we need to abandon to protect our girls'."
Dusu Konate, 53, Keur Simbara

Students huddle around a traditional clay pot that they draw their FGM stories on [Fatma Naib/Al Jazeera]

When the message was disseminated, bit by bit, it was received with shock. A highly respected elder, a religious figure of renown, a Muslim imam, was informing villagers that the ages-old custom of cutting the genitals of young girls resulted in direct, long-term physical harm done them, quite aside from the psychological trauma suffered by girls of all ages, held down forcibly while someone took a sharp piece of metal, a knife, or a glass, to cut away her clitoris, the pleasure-source of a female during intercourse.

In tribal, primitive, authoritarian, patrilineal societies across Africa and the Middle East, mostly Muslim societies, this was viewed as a measure that would tame female sexuality. Suffering pain, not pleasure during sexual intercourse, pain throughout the menstrual cycle, pain during childbirth, women's natural sense of sexual arousal would be tamped down, to ensure they would remain chaste, avoiding any kind of extramarital relations, completely loyal to a husband. That often children bled to death in the process or sustained lethal infections failed to warn of the consequences of the practise.

There are various types of genital cutting; in some societies it is minimal, in others it is quite viciously dangerous, but any type of practise of this kind represents a patriarchal attack on women's sexuality, the end result being to treat girls and women as chattels, not independent human beings with sovereign human rights attached to them. In Senegal, the most extreme type of genital mutilation traditionally takes place where the clitoris and parts of the labia are removed, the vagina sealed partly closed.

In the 1980s, American Molly Melching arrived in Senegal for the purpose of educating villagers in Senegal who had had he benefit of little formal education. She and her team of community workers taught classes in basic literacy in health, sanitation, governance and human rights. She had gained the trust of those she taught and her reputation preceded her. A decade after her first appearance, local women broached the topic of genital cutting during discussions of women's reproductive health.

And that led to a more wide and general discussion incorporating the practise of genital cutting, when the women appear to have been introduced for the first time to the dangers inherent in genital cutting. It seems they had never on their own linked that custom with the problems they all experienced with menstruation, childbirth and sex. And when that link was made and the discussions explored all of these details and links, a storm of controversy ensued. After all, if a marriageable girl or woman had never been 'cut', she was considered undesirable as a wife.



But this information came from someone who spoke their language, who lived among them, whom they had learned over the years to trust. This was a wise woman, a woman who listened to their stories, went out of her way to help solve their problems. Ms. Melching had founded a nonprofit whose purpose was to educate the poor, to reduce poverty, and eventually Tostan was recognized for its work to end genital cutting. Eventually the Senegalese government adopted the approach taken by Tostan to educate villagers in their native language to surrender the age-old practise.

Images from the award-winning but controversial anti-FGM charity 'It Happens Here' ad campaign Photo: Ogilvy and Mather/28 Too Many

A 2014 survey undertaken in Senegal concluded that among women aged 15 to 19 years, 21 percent had undergone cutting; that number less than the 25 percent in 2005. In one region, however the rate of cutting among all ages proved as high as 92 percent. Tostan has since expanded its service and purpose to an additional seven African countries where over 200,000 people participated in its three-year education program, leading 80,000 communities to publicly abandon female cutting, child marriage and forced marriage.

Without influential local leaders like Imam Diawar the challenge would have been more formidable than it turned out to be. He travelled by foot or horse cart to 359 villages, making use of extended family links and social networks to help deliver his message. He has since spoken to international audiences in Egypt, New York, the United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States, with Ms. Melching often accompanying him to translate from his native language.

Sister Fa, a Senegalese rapper, has been conducting workshops with children, parents, local rappers and the wider community to raise awareness about children's rights - especially for girls - and the dangers of cutting. [FatmaNaib/Al Jazeera]