When Radio Kergheamahn reporter Chester Dolo decided to tackle the taboo subject of female genital cutting (FGC) – also known as circumcision or mutilation (FGM) – he became the first reporter at his radio station in northcentral Liberia to talk on-air about FGC. Other reporters warned him against it. He was nervous, and even a bit scared. Most women refused to speak with him. It took courage and determination because this traditional practice is deeply-entrenched in the ‘secret societies’ of this West African country.

Chester Dolo receives first place at jhr’s Liberia Human Rights Reporters Awards

To report on this sensitive and secretive practice, Chester had to grapple with his own beliefs in witchcraft.

Chester describes the challenges in this audio feature:

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

For more, read a Q & A by jhr trainer and journalist Bonnie Allen with Chester Dolo.

Q: First, introduce yourself and explain why you decided to do this documentary.

A: I’m Chester Dolo. I’m 22 years of age. I presently work at Radio Kergheamahn. Ganta, Nimba County, Liberia. I work as a journalist and I’m doing a story on FGM. FGM is simply Female Genital Mutilation or circumcision. I decided to do this story because this is one of the traditional practices that is taking place in this part of the country. Liberia has signed an agreement with the international community to ban FGM totally, but yet Liberia has not yet signed that law [nationally] to reenforce [abolishing] the practice.

Q: Why don’t journalists in Liberia report on female genital circumcision?

A: For me, at this age, I feel very scared because this issue of FGM is a very sensitive topic or issue in Liberia. This issue is never spoken about. People say that it is a taboo. People who go through that process, it is an agreement amongst those people, before they could come outside [leave the bush school], an agreement that if they go out, there should be no one to talk about it. And even if you are not part of it, you are not allowed to talk. Sometimes, if you talk about it, we have witnessed so many instances where people who talk about this female genital mutilation, they have been witched.

Q: Witched?

A: Yeah, witched – witchcraft. for example, they use juju as we call it in our setting.

Even presently as I speak, I feel very much threatened, I can say. One of the persons I interviewed, she later phoned me, telling me that I shouldn’t disclose her name because she feels very afraid. So even for me, as I speak, doing a story on this I feel my life is not even secure.

Q: So why take the risk?

A: I care about it because it is one of the violations of rights of women. Some people’s children are taken – from the age 5 and upwards – to be circumcised. I feel it against the rights of the children.

Q: Do you think you are brave for reporting on this story?

A: [laughs] I’m not too brave. Yes. Practically, I’m not too brave. But it would be very much difficult to go in the deep rural areas where these practices are well practiced. If you go in the rural areas to actually interview, it would be difficult. If you are not careful, you will even lose your life. Because the real people who go through this process, the real people who are doing this thing, have lots of demonic attitudes. They have lots of things in their hand [powers], that if you are not careful they will witch you.

Q: Do you actually believe someone could harm you with witchcraft?

A: For our setting, for our African setting, there are so many things that people do. People transform themselves into so many things to hurt other people. So witchcraft as a whole, most people believe it in Liberia, and even myself, I believe it.

Q: What reaction have you received from other journalists, or women?

A: Some are saying you don’t have to talk about this. Some are saying you don’t have to talk about this because it is the tradition of the people. Some are also saying people, the western world, wants to impose, or wants to get rid of the culture of the people in Africa so they are using so many reasons, so many strategies to get the culture of people out. And which they are saying FGM is one of the cultures of the people in Africa. So doing a story on this is is denying people of their culture.

Q: How do you feel about that?

A: For me, my thought is, as a journalist, we are to do, is to report on fact. To report on issues not because it is an African issue or an American issue.

——–

Author: Bonnie Allen
Source: jhr
Original Publication Date: Jan. 22, 2010

Radio Kergheamahn Joseph Kerkulah explores why pregnant women in northern Liberia are dying at such a high rate. Liberia has one of the worst records in the world for pregnant women dying due to complications arising during pregnancy or childbirth. Kerkulah and jhr trainer Bonnie Allen travel to a rural village that does not have a medical clinic to interview midwives, pregnant women, and the families of women who died. The team discovers access to healthcare is particularly difficult during rainy season.

AIRED: First aired July 28, 2009. It was featured on a program called “Healthy Body.” It has since re-aired three times. Furthermore, an extended interview with Maternity Ward Supervisor Comfort Neufville also aired twice.

Click here to listen

jhr trainer remarks:
There are several successes in this piece. The reporter Joseph Kerkulah interviewed ordinary women who have never had the chance to speak out before. Normally, he avoids interviewing Liberians who speak a local dialect, such as Kpelle, because his program is in English. I showed him that we cannot discriminate against people due to language, and demonstrated how to translate interviews and edit clips with English voice-over. He also, for the first time, used natural sound in a radio item.

The Executive of Mano River Union for Peace Network (MARWOPNET) in corroboration with West African Network for Peace on Wednesday July 1^st 2009, held consultation with Parliamentarians in Committee Room number one.

The aim of the consultation was to share information and advocate for the implementation of United Nations Security for Conflict Resolution 1325 which was adopted by the United Nations in 2000 but has not been incorporated into the laws of this country. The resolution gives equal opportunity rights to women, condemns violence against women and children and encourages economic empowerment.

Former lecturer and executive member of MARWOPNET, Dr Nana Pratt briefed women about the role of women in conflict resolution, noting that women can play a vital role in the prevention, protection and as well participate meaningfully in conflict resolution. She said women should be given more responsibilities in their respective communities to make their own input, for development in these areas. Dr Pratt went further to state that the issue of women and children has been treated with levity. She used the opportunity to appeal to MPs to speedily ratify UN resolution 1325. “To this we need your support to ratify this resolution,” Dr Pratt urged. Consultations have been held in the provinces on this issue, where according to her, people who attended the occasion made meaningful contributions.

United Nations representative Eunice Njovana reminded parliamentarians about the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action where human rights for women were discussed. She also mentioned the outcome document of the 23^rd special session of the United Nations General Assembly entitled ‘Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21^st Century’. “Economic empowerment will put women on the vantage in their respective communities,” she said.

Deputy Minister of Social Welfare and Gender Affairs, Musu Kamdeh added that women undergo lot of violence in society. Other MPs also recognised the merits of Resolution 1325 and vowed to lobby their colleagues to pass it into law when it came up. She appealed for the security of girls, children and women. Ms Njovana supported this with her own statement, “girls take the lead in the security of the home; MPs should take the lead in the security of children, girls and women.”

One in eight pregnant women in Sierra Leone has a chance of dying at childbirth. Due to the lack of adequate medical services, they are being denied their basic human right to maternal health. According to UNICEF, presently Sierra Leone is ranked the worst country in the world in this respect.

Maternal mortality is a very complex and critical problem. David Shermutt of Amnesty International feels that it amounts to discrimination against women. “Governments should put more emphasis on this because it is only women who are dying,” he said.

Among the challenges faced by the gobernment are hospital conditions i.e. conditions of service for meducal and health workers, hospital policy and equaipments. There is no proper record system to record deaths cases as medical doctors are unable to account for deaths. There is the fear of cost factor as some women don’t go to the hospital because of the registration fee they have to pay.

There is also poor access to health information. There are primitive conceptions held by people living in rural and provincial areas; some women prefer traditional midwives who are not trained and use unsterilised equipment.

When President Ernest Bai Koroma came to power, he made combating the high rate of maternal mortality a priority of his government and launched the Reproductive Child Health Programme in February 2009. To combat and reduce the high rate of maternal mortality, the government and other major stakeholders including UNICEF, UNFPA and WHO have put in place various strategies.

According to Jonathan Abbas Kamaram the Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, the government has shown its strong commitment to take up this situation. They are trying to introduce a policy to cover free cost of reproductive health. “We are trying to make free care accessible to all pregnant women in the government hospitals,” he said.

The government is now on a caravan campaign to sensitise the mass public on the situation and how best we could prevent it. They are trying to encourage women to avoid local herbalists and go to the hospitals. At the same time they are also looking into condition of service for medical and health officers to avoid brain drain of experts. Recently the ministry launched the ‘mami en pikin well bodi week’ which is one of their initiatives to combat maternal mortality.

However, more needs to be done in terms of practicalisation. According to Dr, Rashidatu Kamara of Connaught Hospital, “the government should also try to combat the high rate of teenage pregnancy.” Solomon Sobangdi, coordinator at Amnesty International feels that instead of talking endlessly about it, the government should enforce practical measures. There needs to be more education, stronger monitoring and increasing women’s awareness of their right to emergency obstetric care.

For more information contact Jonathan Abbas Kamara, Ministry of Health and Sanitation at 076678021

Photo Credit: http://sierraleone1968-70.blogspot.com/2008/09/warren-van-hoos-was-peace-corps.html

Growing up in a community where there is the belief that a woman is not regarded
ideal unless she goes through genital circumcision, Matilda Ayripah could not
wait for her turn to be circumcised and be given all the respect due her. She saw her circumcision as one thing she ought to do before associating with men.

At age 18, Matilda ran away from her parents and voluntarily arrived at the compound of the circumciser in her village to become an “ideal women”. Girls who were not circumcised were insulted and ridiculed and she did not want to be the victim of her friend’s desultory comments.

During her turn, she recalls being given a concoction to drink. After she drank it she
was laid down and held firmly by a strong group of men. She became scared at the last minute, and struggled to rise and run away but it was too late, she says. She woke up three days later from a long sleep, restless and in great pain. Her parents sat beside her and gave her a broad smile to signify their pride in her braveness and understanding of tradition.

She was then given food and some herbal medicine, and was cautioned by the
circumciser not to touch or remove anything inside of her because she would become barren. After going through all this pain in the quest to be an ideal African woman, she couldn’t afford to become barren so she obliged. Later in the evening, the circumciser and some strong men held Matilda firmly to remove the large folded cotton which had been inserted into her to protect her womb before circumcision.

As she recounts her story, the look on her face betrays the pain Matilda felt during the removal of the cotton.

In fact, there are many painful memories she lives with every day, from the actual cutting to the post-natal infections. Matilda regrets her decision to be circumcised, but is resigned to the fact that it is too late to turn back time. She would, however, like to advise other girls thinking of going through with the procedure that the lifelong physical and emotional pain of FGM is not worth abiding by tradition. “I feel pain whenever I remember what happened to me, whenever I remember I call my children to encourage them to never go through with it”.

More and more people are coming to realize the disastrous effects FGM can have on a woman’s life, and although the practice is on the decrease, it is still happening in Ghana, says Rierselle Akanbong of the CHRAJ office in Navrango. “There is still cause for concern, I believe there are still pockets of this practice going on, and we must eradicate this heinous crime,” he says. “It is a violation of children’s rights. It inflicts pain on them when their entire clitoris is cut off with absolutely no anesthetic. The ceremony is degrading, and the child is not able to attend school for at least three months, while she heals.”

Akanbong, who comes from the region recalls witnessing FGM ceremonies in the mid nineties. “I saw it with my own eyes. it was horrible,” he says. “The girls were screaming and there was so much blood coming out, one girl even fainted.”

Back then, FGM was openly practiced and even encouraged. After years of advocacy against the practice, female circumcisers have become more secretive, but it is still going on in the remote villages of the upper east region, says Akanbong. “There will be drumming and dancing outside of a mud hut, disguising it as a marriage ceremony,” he says. But inside FGM is going on.

Although he doesn’t get any complaints of FGM, he believes it is because people still do not know that the practice is against the law. “When we embark on educational programmes most often the people become surprised when they hear that FGM is a criminal offense,” he says.

The paramount chief of the Bolga region, Ya Na, is trying to enforce the criminal code. Six years ago he created a law that holds the subchief of a district responsible before the circumciser. Since then he has seen a drastic reduction in the number of FGM cases in the region. He is pleased with the results and works hard to advocate the eradication of all forms of FGM in Ghana.

“When circumcised women menstruate, there are problems, when they want to have babies, there are problems. There is nothing good about FGM, either traditionally or medically,” he says.

Traditionally, the origins of female circumcision are not clear. There are theories, but they are speculative. Some of these suggest that women were circumcised to stop them from engaging in extra marital affairs, or to stop them from being too sexually demanding towards their husband who may have numerous wives to satisfy. Other theories suggest that it is more enjoyable for men to have sex with a circumcised woman. Matilda negates this idea, saying that her husband left her because he did not enjoy having sex with her because of her circumcision.

Matilda also had no pleasure or satisfaction any time she made love with her husband.
“In our tradition it was the duty of a wife to be submissive to her husband so I had
to do what he say and want to make him happy,” she says. “When you are circumcised you hardly enjoy sex with your husband, you just realize some few months later that your love-making yielded a good result with a pregnancy.”

Matilda is a mother of seven, now at age 44; she lives alone since her husband is
married to another woman who is not circumcised.

Medically, the most prevalent problems associated with FGM are post delivery infections, and pelvic inflammatory diseases, says a doctor with Rural Health Integrated, an NGO in Bolgatanga that does advocacy work to stop the practice of FGM.

Although he is pleased with the decrease in FGM in Ghana (between 1995 and 2000 the incidence had fallen from 14 per cent to 2.8 percent), he worries about women inserting herbs into their vaginas; something he says is still widely practiced in Ghana. “Women do it to make themselves tighter,” he says, “But what it is really doing is reducing the elasticity of the walls of the vagina, and causing ulcers which are then transmitted to the their partners.”

Like FGM, it is a practice that is intended to increase the pleasure for a man, but in reality is harmful for both the woman and her sexual partner. It is part of a tradition with no clear origin, and no measurable benefits, the kind of practice that should be abandoned, says the chief of Bolgatanga. “Obsolete customs and traditions should not be maintained, maintain the good ones, but we have to accept change.”

Photo Credit: Sarah Lee

In Small Bo chiefdom Kenema district, as in much of Sierra Leone, women are still deprived of inheriting property left behind by their husbands.

It is a burning issue even though the Devolution of Estate Act, which was passed in 2007, criminalizes the act of depriving a woman from inheriting her husband’s property after his death. The act further states that it is an offense to eject a surviving spouse or child from the matrimonial home before the formal distribution of the estate.

A woman in the streets of Freetown.

Chapter three of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone states that the fundamental human rights and freedom of every individual in Sierra Leone must be recognized and protected.

Article 23 of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights recognizes the right to equality in marriage. This means that men and women have the same rights and responsibilities during the marriage and at its dissolution.

Despite this, none of the women in Wiama village in the Small Bo chiefdom in Kenema district own land.

When Jatu Lansana’s husband died some years back, her own family wanted to take her to another community. But her husband’s family refused on the grounds that she has given birth to children in the family and it would be unfair to take all the children to another family.

“I was here for five years without a husband,” Lansana said. “All the property my husband left behind was taken away from me. I was abandoned by both my husband’s family and even my children.”

One of her husband’s brothers decided to marry her. She denied because of the difficulties she had undergone, but was forced to agree.

Mamie Kamoh said the vast cocoa and coffee plantations left behind by their father were claimed by her three younger brothers on the pretext that they are the head of the family and they take care of the home while she is away with her husband.

It is stated in the Devolution of Estate Act that where there are only children left, each child should get an equal share of the estate.

“Since my brothers started working in I have not received anything from them. I requested for Le 50,000 to pay the school feels for my son but there was no money,” Kamoh said.

“The other time I attempted to enter the plantation I was sued to a native court in which I was fined Le 100,000. I felt dejected because the property by right belongs to all of us.”

A Sierra Leonean woman.

Tajoh Mamoh wanted to construct a two-room building on her family land, and told her family and the town chiefs about it.

“It was at that moment that my brother informed that chiefs that he wanted to construct a house on the same land,” she said. “I was deprived because the land was given to my brother. Up till now he has not started the construction.”

Being able to inherit and own property means women can be self reliant and provide for their children on their own.

Part of the problem is that many people do not know about the new Devolution of Estate Act, which was passed in 2007. To help address this, the Lawyer’s Center for Legal Action (LAWCLA) has put the new laws into clear language that is easier to understand.

Doris Kalle, the regional coordinator for the Coalition of Women’s Movement, said her organization has also embarked on a massive sensitization campaign in the district. They are educating women and traditional authorities on the new laws.

“A lot of women have been mainly complaining about the distribution of property especially plantations left behind by their husbands,” she said.

“We are still faced with the situation where men feel their wives are property to them. We don’t have proper bylaws that clearly define the rights of women in this community,” she said, adding that it is imperative to explain the gender acts in local languages so that people will understand.

The Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD), a non-governmental organization based in Kenema, is using radio programmes to educate people about the new laws.

Patrick Adu, who works with the MRD, said in the case of property devolution, the general practice in remote communities is that the widow herself is regarded as a property to be inherited together with the deceased husband’s property.

If she does marry one of her late husband’s brothers, she may enjoy whatever benefit he derives from the estate. In the event the wife refuses to be “inherited” by one of the husband’s relations, only her personal belongings will be given her.

Young Sierra Leoneans.

Adu said that when a woman decides not marry her husband’s relations, traditional divorce laws may be invoked, keeping her from getting the property. “This is responsible for most of the problems in our villages,” he said.

Generally under the customary law, the widow is not entitled to take out letters of administration; such rights are given to the eldest surviving male in the deceased’s family. If the wife succeeds to get any property at all, she will only be given one-third of it.

Local bylaws are used in most parts of the country.

According to David Kallon, a court clerk of native administrative Court No. 4 in Kenema, the chiefdom committee drafts the laws and passes it on to the local chief administrator for approval.

But the bylaws currently in use were drafted in 1963 and have not been updated with any new laws, such as the gender acts.

He said the court only gets involved with disputes when someone makes a complaint. That means that people must understand the laws.

“We don’t call on cases from either the woman or her husband’s family but if there is any conflict among them it is the responsibility of the aggrieved to report to the court so that the court can make a ruling,” he explained.

Another problem, he said, is that the local courts lack the support to adjudicate cases properly. This leads to delays.

“Court officers are not paid. Our bylaws are not properly written. These are all compounded in the delay in of justices in our communities,” Kallon said.

Jennah Kandeh, the deputy minister of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs, expressed the government’s commitment to ensure that the gender laws are properly implemented in the interest of women and society.

She said the law was instituted to put an end to impunity against women and children.

Kandeh said her ministry has established a committee that is devoted to the sensitization campaign so that women at grassroots communities and their local authorities understand the new laws.

“We know that women are going through a lot of difficulties but with the concerted efforts by women’s organizations like the 50-50 Group and other partners in the fight, much will be achieved though community sensitization,” she said.

It is afternoon by the time we arrive. The sun blazes high above a sandy road that leads into the fishing village. Kweku and I had received a text message saying, “Hi – here’s the number” from a contact. But nothing was firmed up. We find Rose at her inlaws’ house. She is wearing a purple jacket. Her dark eyes are bold, determined. A cross dangles from her neck. She agrees to speak with us.

Rose with her students before the attack.

“Last year, the story of a young woman brutally attacked with a machete hit the media, bringing about a national outcry. The First Lady personally paid the victim, Rose Amina Abdulai, a visit at the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital…;” Kweku and I write these words. We’re making a television documentary about Rose’s path to recovery.

“And like every 26 year old, Rose was looking forward to a bright future“, Kweku narrates.

There was a lot for Rose’s parents to be proud of. She had just started teaching at a district primary school. In a school photo, Rose sits on a wooden bench with her students at Tikobo Number 1 DC Primary. They are clad in brown uniforms and she’s very much looking the part: a teacher-in-charge. Her hands are clasped, resting calmly in her lap.

It started at about 2 o’clock, Rose recalls. She looks directly at the camera. Her brow furrows as she remembers.

It was June 2005. She was residing at the teacher’s quarters. There was a knock at the door to her room and she recognized the voice outside. It was her boyfriend Clement Andwi-Aka, whose baby she was carrying. “He posed me some questions” Rose says, “Why did I involve myself in loving somebody else?”

Andwi-Aka accused Rose of being in a relationship with a man named Innocent Kebir, a national serviceman posted to the district. Rose said Innocent was simply teaching her computer skills at the teacher’s quarters.

Rose shows her hand.

“He held my shirt.”

Andwi-Aka had a machete.

Rose tried to get away.

“He started butchering me.”

A female colleague rushed in. Rose, unconscious and bleeding profusely, was rushed to a hospital in Half Assini, and was later transferred to the regional hospital.

Kweku asks, “Can you point out the cuts that you had?” Rose takes her jacket off. She shows her left hand. Her fingers and thumb are missing. Her right arm ends in a stump at the elbow. She has scars above her eye, on her cheek and at the top of her head.

Andwi-Aka attacked Rose. Then, he went looking for Innocent. Innocent didn’t survive.

Teachers and friends mobilized to help Rose. The Jomoro District Assembly set up an emergency fund. She moved back home. From now on, without the use of her limbs, she would need constant support. Her teaching career was over and she felt confined to home. She had lost her baby. Rose’s father, Abdulai Mohammed, sputters, “I was entirely shocked.”

Kweku Interviews Rose

“Whenever I want to do something, and I can’t do it, I have to shed tears“, Rose confides. “I want my limbs to be fixed for me.”

Rose shows us how she makes do on her own. She struggles to open a CD player. The CD falls to the floor. She bends over to pick it up, balancing it on what remains of her hand. “I want you to help me. But, I have to do it myself“, she says “I’m doing all these things, but I’m not happy.” The imagery speaks for itself.

The documentary is aired on AGOO, the morning show at Skyy Television. Kweku tells me that viewers who called in were deeply moved. Outrage. Tears. Calls for Andwi-Aka to face the death penalty. Rose is struggling for a good quality of life. “I don’t want to be this way at all“, she says.

Kweku and I had brought Rose’s story back into the public eye.

Today, Rose is teaching at a school in Jomoro District. She has been fitted with prosthetic limbs, thanks to the support of womens’ organizations. She is no longer confined to life at home. Rose tells Kweku it’s as if her life has been given back to her.

The Sekondi Court found Clement Andwi-Aka guilty. He was sentenced to death.