Religion & FGM

According to the members, the involvement of religious leaders is fundamental, particularly through the elaboration of fatwa in order to sensitize the population to the fact that a practice that is harmful to the health of girls and women (and which is not obligatory in the Koran) should not be practiced. In order to involve them, the issue at stake is not the veracity or not of the hadiths put forward, but rather how to get opinion leaders who strongly believe they are right to promote the practice to admit another religious “truth”?

A doctor/religious leader tandem would be interesting to set up (such as in Mali where the religious authorities have called on doctors). The main obstacle is posed by the fact that “those who defend the practice have the answer to everything”. 

• In religious circles: emphasis on medicalisation to combat the consequences on health
• In the medical field: resistance of doctors to highlight the health consequences of the practice in Mauritania

Attention must be paid to the terms used during sensitization: confusion between the Arabic terms male circumcision and female excision.

During awareness-raising activities, it is therefore better to use another term than “Sunna”, because the more we call it “sunna”, the more we legitimize it as an Islamic practice. For example, the terms “fircooni” (pharaonic) and “fiid-jar” (to cut off the cap = “sunna”) are more appropriate.

Emphasize that FGM can damage women’s health and even their lives, so it is crucial to stop the practice.

One member explained that a barrier to achieving meaningful results is “the fact that in Muslim societies where the practice is prevalent, FGM is a women’s issue”, and they do not take part in Friday prayers where the preaching against FGM is broadcast, so they do not benefit from these messages in relation to Islam’s position on FGM.

Furthermore, it should always be kept in mind that the root cause of FGM lies in the inequality between women and men. It is therefore necessary to transform attitudes through “the adoption of a holistic approach that includes all actors” (religious, health personnel, decision-makers, sociologists, psychologists, opinion leaders, women’s groups, watchdog committees, etc.) and a fluid coordination mechanism for better monitoring.

Furthermore, it is important to strengthen civil society outside religion by encouraging freedom of thought and debate, in order to make people understand that religion can be debated.

Finally, one member stressed the importance of putting this debate into perspective. Indeed, to say that FGM is not religious implies that if it were religious, then it would be morally and legally permissible (Brian D. E., Hendry J., 2017). Instead, we must argue that even if cutting a child’s genital organs were an explicitly religious practice, it would not make it morally or legally permissible.