Are all Ancient African practices necessary?

Submitted by Herta Malita Shikapwashya
KNN Staff-International Geopolitics Reporter

Africans that practice female circumcision have been urged by the United Nations to eliminate the ancient practice. Unfortunately, this appeal is not only for Africans in Africa, but Africans all over the world. The world refuses to recognize this tradition for it is humiliating to women, and they are taking the necessary steps to condemn this practice.

In Sweden for example, a court jailed a Somali man in June 2006 to four years on imprisonment for forcing his 13 year old daughter to be circumcised. It was Sweden’s first conviction in that country since it banned the practice in 1982. It has also been reported that in the United Kingdom (UK), more than 74,000 women living in that country had undergone female circumcision which led to Sierra Leone’s Information Minister condemning the British House of Lords ruling to grant asylum to its 18 year old citizen because she feared female circumcision. In Kenya, many girls were reported to have been in hiding from their parents for fear of female genital mutilation. These girls were being sheltered by churches.

In Burkina Faso, 14 people were arrested for carrying out female genital mutilation on 16 young girls. Generally, no one is arrested in African countries when female circumcisions are carried out, however an anonymous tip to a local campaign group against female circumcision has assisted in the arrest of some. Barbaric ways of preserving a girls virginity are not the best methods. Other comfortable practices that do not humiliate girls such as, the Right of Passage were put in place to do the same thing that female circumcision does.

Why can't these countries adopt the Right of Passage method as opposed to female genital mutilation? Certainly, that question can only be answered by those that practice female circumcision. One thing that is clear is this, African countries that have some form of islamic influence tend to practice female circumcision. This is not to say that Islam is good or bad. However one has to wonder why these countries (with some islamic influences) go to such extreme measure to protect a girls' worth. While female circumcision is a traditional practice for some African countries, it is not necessary for these traditions to be carried out in countries that condemn the practice.