President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria left office on Friday, a rare instance of a democratic transition of power in Africa, a quiet end to a presidency that may be most memorable for the extremism that flourished during his tenure: Islamist militants Boko Haram laid siege to the countryside, making headlines with mass kidnappings and violent takeovers, and Jonathan signed an aggressive antihomos*xuality law that appeased extremist Christians.
"With such a huge population, Nigeria's vote in favor of women and girls is hugely important," Mary Wandia, who fights female genital mutilation through women's advocacy group Equality Now,told The Guardian.
Female genital mutilation, the act of cutting away part or all of a girl’s external genitalia, is a difficult custom to curb in the communities where it still flourishes. Its advocates believe the procedure helps future husbands control women, reducing their s*xual appetite and making them more docile and marriageable. Human rights advocates say it can cause infections, leading to infertility, and the loss of s*xual pleasure.
The United Nations passed a resolution in December 2012 calling on member states to ban the practice, but attitudes shift more slowly than law. Some states in Nigeria, where the United Nations estimates about 25 percent of girls and women between 15 and 49 years old have undergone genital cutting, had already banned the practice. It remains more pervasive in Guinea, Egypt, Djibouti, and Somalia—countries where more than 90 percent of girls and women undergo genital cutting.
So, Why Should You Care? Female genital cutting is most common in Africa and the Middle East, but it happens all over the world, and it's estimated that 125 million girls and women alive today have undergone the procedure. It tends to flourish in places where women lack rights or face many biases and pressure to conform to marital roles. By fighting FGM, activists say, you fight a patriarchal culture that oppresses women. Education and freedom for women and girls in developing societies are closely linked to their economic growth and independence, which secures a better future for everyone.
You can get a taste of what the patriarchal society in Nigeria means to its women through a social media movement flourishing under the hashtag #BeingFemaleInNigeria.
