Patterns of Female Genital Cutting in Sierra Leone - Unicef

22
UNICEF: Patterns of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Sierra Leone
changing the practices, some of the interviewees were more likely to say something
negative about the practices. In summary, leadership for change is not yet diffused
beyond the few activists who are known to be involved in challenging FGC.
However, it is clear from our interviews that educational and religious leaders are the
people with the greatest potential to influence people’s thinking on a variety of topics,
and therefore they should be approached about participating in any efforts to generate
dialogue, raise awareness, or promote change. Unlike some other countries where FGC
has high prevalence among Muslims and where a few Muslim are using religious
arguments to try to end the practices, in Sierra Leone it is done by both Muslims and
Christians—as well as by others. In Sierra Leone, the few religious leaders who are
engaged in working against FGC are primarily Christians, especially members of
Pentecostal churches. Because of the religious diversity in the country—numerous
branches of Islam and differing Christian denominations are found—the use of
Pentecostal religious arguments is unlikely to persuade those who are not members of
these churches.
Within kin groups, there is the potential for respected elders to play a significant role if
they agree to make changes. Although members of the parental generation expressed
their frustration at the loss of some of their former authority, they continue to wield some
influence, particularly within their kin groups and communities.
Local leaders such as town chiefs and paramount chiefs are vital to the process of
discussion of change. However, resistance to change appears to be strongest among
chiefs and women leaders of the secret societies. By definition, as a traditional leader,
any chief is expected to be concerned with the preservation of heritage, and those who
seek to stop circumcision or interfere with the authority of secret societies are challenging
that heritage.
4.2.1 Information flow about the movement for change in the traditions.
In the communities we visited we found several communication channels. In villages and
towns where electricity is only available by generator or not available at all, information
dissemination is being done through the village or town crier from the office of the chief.
The chiefs and elders (male and female) meet, and then a general meeting is called to the
Court Barre, a structure found in nearly every settlement. Radio communication is
facilitated by the existence of community radio stations in all of the districts visited, but
very few radios were observed or reported in the communities (for example, it might be
just the chief and the assistant chief who have them), and without electricity, using a
radio requires the purchase of batteries. It was only in the towns that we heard radios
being used.
The most efficient information flow appears to be oral communication, through group
meetings or through individuals. This may be partially responsible for what seems to be
a misinterpretation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The elders,
parents, and teachers in all the communities covered often gave the opinion that they no