Oye Lithur proposes stiffer laws against FGM

Former Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, has said there is the need to make stiffer laws on the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which appears to be prevalent in some towns in the Upper East Region of Ghana.

Broadcast Journalist with the Media General Group, Sarah Parku, travelled to Pusiga in the Upper East Region where she discovered that even though FMG has been outlawed, it is still a common practice, but done on the low.

Packaged into a documentary titled “Apostles of Pain”, which has started airing on TV3, the journalist details the plight of many innocent young girls who have had to succumb to the torturous act in the name of cultural practice.

According to her, a 70-year-old woman who seemed to have perfected the art of cutting young girls over a decade told her she has so far performed the operation on over 100 young girls, some of whom have to be moved out of the country to be cut.

Though some have argued that the practice makes the girl child chaste, health professionals say it has the potential of causing fistula, birth complications, and hemorrhage and in worse situations death.

Nana Oye Lithur, contributing to a discussion on TV3’s New Day, acknowledged the act has a cultural undertone but asserts the issue be looked at more seriously

“You realize it is because of the cultural underpinnings of the practice, with the idea of making them whole”, said Oye Lithur adding, “the piece [documentary] should be a wakeup call to review the laws governing FGM”.

The country representative of the United Nation’s Population Fund, Niyin Ojoulape, commended Ghana for passing a law that proscribes the practice, noting “The law enforcement agencies are doing very well, a reason why people have to go across the border to have it done.”