Laughter And leg pulling characterized the business of parliament yesterday when the Deputy Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Della Sowah, made a statement on female genital mutilation (FgM) to coincide with the United Nation’s day of Zero Tolerance for the practice.
The Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano South and Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Hannah Louisa Bissiw, had said that the practice was not only harmful to the health of girls and other female victims, but also completely deprives them of sexual pleasure.
According to her, the clitoris, which is ‘circumcised’ in the name of tradition, is the most sensitive part of the sexual organ of the female and therefore cutting it off in such a bad practice would definitely deny the victims of any sexual pleasure.
“All women must be made to enjoy sex like their male counterparts and should therefore not be allowed to undergo such practice which is prevalent in the Upper West and Upper East Regions,” she stressed.
The deputy minority leader, Dominic Nitiwul, supported the argument of Dr Bissiw, saying that cutting off the clitoris in such a barbaric way is the worst thing that can happen to the sexual feelings of the female.
“The ladies will tell you that for sex to be pleasurable to both the lady and the man, it is for the clitoris to be intact and therefore, cutting it off will not make them and their future husbands enjoy the nature of procreation,” he said.
At this point, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Old Tafo, Anthony Akoto Osei, stood on a point of order to ask the deputy minority leader to provide scientific basis for his argument since parliament is a House of Records, but Mr Nitiwul said his points were scientifically established facts.
The NDC MP for Akwatia, Baba Jamal, also rose on a point of order to correct what he believed was an impression being created by the deputy minority leader and his colleague from Tano South that total sexual satisfaction depends on only the man inserting his organ into the woman.
“Pleasure in sex does not start on the bed, but the mind; and the whole body of the woman must be prepared and tuned to the act,” he said throwing members into prolonged laughter.
The majority chief whip, Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, the said negative health effects of the practice are too damaging, stressing that victims do not only go through post-FGM trauma, but also suffer severe bleeding and sometimes infertility.
The Deputy Minister for Gender and MP for Kpando, Della Sowah, said about 100 to 140 million women in Africa had suffered female genital mutilation, stressing that further three million girls in Africa were at risk of going through this harmful practice.
According to her, in the Upper West and East Regions, the rates of practice stood at 41% and 28% respectively.
She therefore pledged the support of the government to continue with its education and advocacy on the harmful effects of this harmful practice and called for the support of parliamentarians, especially those coming from the north, to help eradicate it completely.