In Chad, “female genital mutilation is done every day”

maryam lahbal
maryam lahbal
2 Min Read
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The president of the Chadian League for Women’s Rights underlines at the microphone of RFI that female genital mutilation remains common in her country despite a law punishing these practices. “People who do it are never arrested, so everyone thinks it’s still normal to do it,” laments Épiphanie Nodjikoua Dionrang.

February 6 is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. Internationally, these practices are considered a violation of the human rights of women and girls, including their rights to health, safety, and physical integrity.

The United Nations has set itself the goal of putting an end to these mutilations by 2030. Five years ago, however, there were still 200 million to undergo these practices.

“People who do it are never arrested”

“The applicability of the texts remains the big challenge in fact at the moment, explains Épiphanie Nodjikoua Dionrang, president of the Chadian League for Women’s Rights, at the microphone of Sébastien Németh. Mutilations are done every day in rural areas or in towns, even in hospitals”.

Épiphanie Nodjikoua Dionrang continues: “On the government side, there is no seriousness, they do not really put pressure to be able to punish the perpetrators. People who do it are never arrested, so everyone thinks it’s still normal to do it. We are always in this perspective that these are our habits and customs, it is our culture, and we must do it. However, many women who undergo this have so many problems afterward…”

And to assure: “If this law is applied, it will really deter the authors. So there will already be this fear of “if a person does it, we have to arrest them, they have to pay fines or go to jail”. This means that it will reduce genital mutilation and it will change things. »

Maryam Lahbal

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