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Pathetic stories of women who underwent Female Genital Mutilation
Many women in the north are victims of FGM
Ms Aisha Yakubu, 20, from Pusiga in the Upper East Region of Ghana is among 125 million young women in the world who have permanent scars on their bodies to show after surviving female genital mutilation.
According to Aisha, she was circumcised when she was nine years old although she was told by her mother in advance it would happen to her.
“The circumcision was performed in an elderly woman’s house which few girls of my age were gathered in a form of ceremony,” she said.
The activity looked like an annual festival, where some elderly women were dancing and singing traditional songs. Then, one by one, they began to perform the circumcision.
“The pain was unbearable after several days where I have to remain indoor to be given some herbal medications to heal the wound as well as to relieve me of the pains,” she added.
Female Genital Mutilation, popularly known as Female Circumcision is the partial or complete removal of external female genitalia.
Today, female circumcision is illegal, but the procedure continues to be conducted secretly in some rural communities in Northern Ghana.
Another victim, Charity (not real name), was only nine years old when she also underwent female genital mutilation (FGM) in a village near Pusiga.
According to her, she went into the process willingly believing that was her initiation into adulthood.
Narrating her story to The Spectator, she said she bled for a long time, and this scared other girls ready to undergo FGM then.
Victoria Yakubu, a Community Health Nurse who lives in Tamale, also shared her story of stigmatisation when her friends heard she was a victim of FGM.
“I felt very lonely and unwanted when the people around me knew I had no feeling when making love, it psychologically affected me. But as time went on, I mustered courage to feel who I am,” she added.
Now as a mother of two and an advocate against FGM, she urged the youth, community elders, traditional, religious leaders and parents to make sure innocent girls are not cut mercilessly because of traditional belief.
Mr. Francis Azienko from Pusiga said, “the circumcision is considered part of a cultural tradition performed to preserve young girls’ virginity and prevent pre and extra marital sex, early pregnancy as well as sexual transmitted diseases.
“Though the practice brought pain and scars to the innocent girls, I believe it also helped them to remain faithful,” he said.
Mr, Azienko said, though the procedure had been banned, it was carried out secretly in some communities in the Upper East Region.
From Geoffrey Buta, Pusiga.
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Swedru All Blacks back to winning ways, Roshan humble King Faisal
Sekondi Rospak FC made it eight wins in eight successive home games after three second-half goals from John Amoah, Joseph Ntow and Stephen Anthony Kofi. John Amoah opened the scoring in the 55th minute after a barren first half. Joseph Ntow added to the tally in the 56th minute before Stephen Anthony Kofi rounded things up in the 74th minute to give Rospak a 3-0 win over former Premier League side King Faisal.
Elsewhere at Swedru – leaders Swedru All Blacks humbled PAC Academy in an emphatic 2-0 win. Zayat Bubakari scored first for Swedru All Blacks in the 27th minute before Rudolf Junior Nana Kwasi Mensah made it 2-0 in the 34th minute. Swedru All Blacks are top of the table with 36 points – 4 points ahead of second placed Rospak FC.
Meanwhile, Former Premier League side Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs recorded their fourth successive home victory after beaten New Edubiase United 2-1 at the Robert Mensah Park. Enoch Odoom struck first for Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs in the 19th minute but Steven Asante equalized for New Edubiase United before halftime. After the interval, Godfred Eshun scored from distance in the 65th minute to help Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs secure all the points.
Here are the results in Zone Two
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Cervical Cancer alert: Avoid sex at early age
The Programmes Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr Mary Efua Commeh, has advised young girls to avoid sex at an early age.
This, she explained, will give the cervix the opportunity to mature before they become sexually active.
“You need to delay what we call the first sexual intercourse as much as possible to give the cervix the opportunity to mature before the person becomes sexually active,” she said.
Dr Commeh stated this in an interview with The Spectator in Accra on Tuesday as a part of the Cervical Cancer awareness month.
According to her, cervical cancer was the second leading female cancer in Ghana with a total of about 3,072 cases annually, and out of that, 1,815 deaths are recorded, representing more than 50 per cent.
She indicated that “If young girls are going to be sexually active, then you need to talk to your parents about being vaccinated.”
She explained that vaccinating young girls against human papillomavirus (HPV) has been found to be a very effective way of preventing cervical cancer.
“There are countries that started HPV vaccination years ago and they are not seeing any cervical cancers now because they would have eliminated most of the high-risk HPVs in their women. So if the high-risk HPV is not there, then obviously the results on cervical cancers are going to go down,” she added.
Dr Commmey said the HPV vaccination is recommended for young girls aged nine to 14 years, adding that it had been found to be highly effective, not just for cervical cancers but for other HPV-related cancers, such as anal cancers, cancers of the vagina, genital warts, amongst others.
She further elaborated that the idea is to put up a barrier before the HPV comes in and that once a young female encounters it, she is already protected.
She also mentioned that for cervical cancers, the main cause is called HPV infection, saying generally, all sexually active women acquire HPV at some point in their lives.
However, the Programmes Manager of NCDs at the GHS mentioned that the body has a way of clearing the HPV, explaining that it is a natural mechanism that goes on, unfortunately, there are a few women whose HPV persists.
Moreover, she noted that the numbers for Cervical Cancer tend to be much higher because at times, clients would wait, and try all sorts of medications before they finally report to the health facility saying “we actually lose some women before they get to the hospitals with over 75 per cent of the cases coming in its third and fourth stages.”
Dr Commey, therefore, called for public awareness while ensuring the availability of information for prevention and control.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
