The Struggle Against FGM in Mali
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In her battle against female genital mutilation (FGM) in Mali, Fatoumata Sire Diakite says one incident in particular stands out.
As president of the Association pour le Progres et la Defense des Droits des Femmes Maliennes (APDF), Diakite had been working with a group of FGM practitioners to help them understand the often life-threatening consequences of the procedure on women and girls.
"Our goal was not to criticize, but to listen to them and to have them listen to us," she says. "They heard the testimony of mothers who lost their daughters from complications due to FGM. At first, the practitioners wouldn't believe them. 'No one has died,' they said. Then we brought in medical doctors, who tried to dispel the myths that surround FGM — that the baby will die during the delivery if its head touches the mother's clitoris, for example — by explaining the scientific facts."
On the last day of the workshop, Diakite says, forty of these women announced they were giving up the practice.
"They swore in a most sacred way that they would never perform FGM again. We were all so moved that we cried," she says. "They had decided it quietly, among themselves, and we had no idea this was coming. We couldn't believe that they would make such a firm commitment."
But there was more. The now former practitioners decided to join Diakite's organization. They agreed to do all they could to spread what they had learned about the dangers of FGM to other practitioners in their region.
A grant from UNIFEM's Trust Fund helped APDF support this awareness-raising workshop and others like it for women, young people, the media, politicians, and religious representatives, as well as practitioners. The idea was to train future spokespeople in the fight against FGM with representatives from a broad cross section of interest groups. "We're trying to enlighten people who can then spread the message among their colleagues and peers," Diakite says.
Mali is a predominantly Muslim country and Diakite says she faces a great deal of opposition from Islamic conservatives who argue that FGM is an Islamic practice condoned by the Koran. She rejects the argument that the practice is sanctioned by the tenets of Islam and works to counter this misguided perception.
The prevailing force behind the practice of FGM is not cultural or religious, Diakite says, but economic. Practitioners rely on the promulgation of the ritual for their livelihood. Therefore, in addition to raising awareness, Diakite insists that it's vital to work with practitioners to help them learn other skills to support themselves - making soap or dying clothes, for example. "We must empower these women by helping them find a new vocation," she says.
Resentment towards Diakite's efforts is high among FGM proponents. She says she has been threatened with physical violence as a result of her work; her opponents once even tried to burn her office down.
But Diakite is not one to shy away from conflict, particularly when it involves a cause to which she's deeply committed. "I've been fighting for women's rights ever since I was young," she says. "Starting in school, I saw the discrimination that took place and I wanted to end it." Unafraid to forge new ground, she was the first woman to join the executive of the National Teacher's Union. "It was not easy. Not only was I the only woman, but I was the youngest member. I was very aware that they thought less of me because of my gender," she says. "It was there that I understood the extent to which women are subject to violence and discrimination. I was targeted all the time. It really angered me because I was the most educated among them, yet I was not allowed to give my opinion." She says she helped pave the way for other women, whose ranks now swell the membership.
Diakite does not doubt that the fight against FGM is another battle she's going to win. "I'm seeing that more people are talking about the harmful effects of FGM and discussing the information with their families," she says. She's also heartened by the fact that more and more men seem to be turning against the practice.
"FGM violates the fundamental human rights of women and while it continues, women cannot be fully participating members of society," she says. "For successful long-term development and progress as a nation, we must put an end to this harmful practice."
President of the Association pour le Progres et la Defense des Droits des Femmes Maliennes (APDF), Fatoumata Sire Diakite works to help FGM practitioners to understand the consequences of the procedure on women and girls. The organization received a grant in 1997 from the Trust Fund in Support of Actions to Eliminate Violence against Women for the project titled "Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation in the Mopti Region of Mali."
(Story Date: 24 November 2000)
