Senegal/Ziguinchor: a training workshop to encourage women to abandon female circumcision

The Platform of Women for Peace in Casamance (PFPC), in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Regional Health Department of Ziguinchor (south), organized a training workshop for female excisers this weekend, with a view to encouraging the abandonment of female genital mutilation (FGM).

Female genital mutilation victims and "badianu gox" (neighborhood godmothers) also took part in the two-day meeting, held in Ziguinchor.

"The aim was to train 30 women/girls who have been victims of FGM and converted excisers in community talk techniques and behavior change communication, in order to strengthen them as agents of awareness-raising and social transformation in their communities," explained Ma Hawa Doumbouya, head of the justice and human rights commission at the Plateforme des femmes pour la paix en Casamance (Women's Platform for Peace in Casamance).

"We organized this training to dissuade women excisers and bring them to their senses, i.e. to make them understand the consequences girls suffer after excision," she added.

She reports that five active excisers took part in the meeting.

According to Ms Doumbouya, "in Casamance, female genital mutilation persists in certain communities, despite awareness-raising and advocacy efforts".

"And in this context, the Plateforme des femmes pour la paix en Casamance, in partnership with UNFPA, are committed to strengthening community initiatives aimed at promoting a transformation of social norms in favor of gender promotion and the elimination of gender-based violence," she said.

To bring about lasting change in the fight against FGM, Ma Hawa Doumbouya considers that "it is essential to involve both survivors and excisers in a process of social transformation".

"Behavior change communication, combined with community talk techniques, offers effective tools for sparking dialogue, challenging social norms and encouraging the abandonment of FGM," she said.

At the meeting, some excisers pledged to abandon their trade, while others cited a problem of survival to justify their indecision.

Source: aps.sn/