AWC Going Dutch March April 2021

FAWCO (cont.)
Continued from page 25
down to a woman’s worth. According to
Rhobi, if a girl dies in Tanzania, she is not
buried but rather thrown away because she
is believed to be cursed. It is as though it
was her fault that she died. These themes
were highlighted further by the interviews
of men in areas where there are many instances
of FGM, also known as “high risk
areas.” Rhobi and the team talked to young
men to try and change their attitudes towards
FGM. There was a particular scene in
the documentary where Rhobi was hosting
a roadshow during which men in the area
were interviewed about cutting ceremonies
and why they are performed. These reactions
provide an insight to both men’s perception
of women in those regions, and the
patriarchal ideals from which this practice
is rooted. It is by changing the attitudes of
these men that significant progress can be
made towards eliminating FGM.
To achieve significant progress, there needs
to be a leader who prevents FGM. Due to
the patriarchal structure of these rural villages,
it is the men who need to put to a stop
to FGM. The education of boys is captured
in a scene where two now confident and reeducated
(formerly at-risk) girls from the
safehouse gave a presentation about FGM
and answered questions from the boys. The
boys watched a video of a young girl undergoing
FGM at her cutting ceremony, after
which the girls gave a speech raising awareness
of the negative consequences of FGM.
After watching the video and the presentation,
the boys appeared to have changed
attitudes about cutting. This heartwarming
scene indicates that educating children, especially
young boys, about the horrors of
FGM is critical for the eradication of this
abhorrent practice.
Postscript: While cutting season is typically
over the December holiday, cutting can take
place at any time. While over £500,000 has
been raised towards ending FGM, the training
of the rescued girls has yet to be fully
successful. Also, unfortunately, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the school education
of young boys and girls about FGM has been
reduced greatly. As a result, FGM will most
likely be occurring even more. UNICEF
has estimated an extra two to three million
girls have been cut worldwide due to the
pandemic. In fact, violence against women
globally has increased during the pandemic
as a result of the social isolation and economic
insecurities that follow. According to
the UN, “At least 200 million women and
girls, aged 15 – 49 years, have undergone
FGM in 31 countries where the practice is
concentrated. Half of these countries are in
West Africa. There are still countries where
FGM is almost universal, where at least 9
in 10 girls and women, aged 15 – 49 years,
have been cut.”
These global statistics cause us to infer that
conditions of FGM in Tanzania have most
likely worsened during the pandemic. While
the pandemic has most definitely presented
a setback, significant progress has nevertheless
been made through the brave work of
Rhobi and her team, who have changed attitudes
about FGM in Tanzania since 2014.
Through the unfiltered documentation of
at-risk girls and their journey towards freedom,
Portenier’s film In the Name of Your
Daughter serves to educate and enlighten us
about the detrimental effects of FGM in rural
Tanzania. This film is in the name of every
woman’s daughter, or every girl that doesn’t
want to be cut. When the cast watched the
film, they were overjoyed by the fact that
their voices had been heard. They even
laughed at the funny parts. There were also
village screenings of the documentary, after
which three girls came to the safehouse, and
one of them was brought in by her brother!
There were both men and women who
wanted to stop FGM. With more initiatives
towards re-educating people about the negative
consequences of FGM, we can achieve
significant progress towards minimizing
this barbaric practice.
26 GOING DUTCH
MARCH/APRIL 2021 27