By Chidinma Ewunonu-Aluko
Experts have warned against the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM),highlighting its devastating health impacts and urging for immediate action to curb the practice.
They made the remarks in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in commemoration of International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM on Friday.
NAN reports that the theme for the 2026 International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM is “Towards 2030: No end to FGM without sustained commitment and investment”.
A Gynaecologist, Dr Olufiade Oyerogba, said that from a gynaecological and public health perspective, FGM had no medical benefit but was associated with serious, short and long term complications.
The complications, she added, included severe pain and bleeding, shock, infection and sepsis, injury to surrounding tissues, risk of death in extreme cases, among others.
The gynaecologist warned that the long term complications were increased risk of stillbirth and neonatal death, chronic pelvic pain, recurrent urinary tract and genital infections, menstrual difficulties, etc.
Oyerogba cautioned that FGM also undermined a woman’s sexual, reproductive and mental health across her life course.
She cautioned parents to desist from practising FGM, stressing that it did not protect morality, fertility or marriage prospects, as the practice was often wrongly believed to do.
She urged parents, caregivers to choose health, education and safety for their daughters.
Oyerogba called for courage to break the generational cycles of harm from FGM.
She urged the government and policy makers to strengthen enforcement of anti-FGM Laws, invest in education, women’s empowerment and community engagement.
“FGM is not a cultural inevitability, it’s a preventable form of violence, culture is dynamic and harmful practices should be stopped; ending FGM requires collective responsibility, not silence
According to her, FGM remains a significant public health and human rights issue in Nigeria.
“National surveys estimate that about 20 per cent of Nigerian women aged 15–49 have undergone FGM, making Nigeria one of the countries with the highest absolute number of affected women globally, due to its large population.
“The practice varies widely by region, ethnicity, and socio-cultural norms, with higher prevalence in parts of the South-East, South-West, and South-South.
“Encouragingly, prevalence is declining among younger age groups, reflecting the impact of education, advocacy, and policy interventions,” she said.
Oyerogba noted that Nigeria had made notable efforts to reduce FGM, including, the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act (VAPP) 2015, which criminalises FGM, State-level anti-FGM laws, Community-based advocacy and awareness programmes, among others.
She however, emphasised that enforcement gaps, cultural resistance, and medicalisation of FGM remained challenges.
She advised health professionals to refuse to perform FGM in any form (medicalisation is unethical and illegal) and counsel families and communities on the health risks and human rights implications.
Oyerogba called for integration of FGM prevention into routine maternal, adolescent, and reproductive health services.
“We must speak up, educate boldly, and protect girls—even when it is uncomfortable,” Oyerogba said.
She said this year’s theme requires a combined effort of political leadership, strong systems, financial resources, community action, evidence and data, and platforms that include and act on girls’ and survivors’ voices.
“By strengthening partnerships, scaling effective solutions, and reinforcing a coordinated movement, we can safeguard progress and accelerate action until FGM is eliminated everywhere,,” she said.
Also, Dr Omolade Falade, a Public Health Physician at Bethel Specialist Hospital, Ibadan, noted that there was a reduction in prevalence rates over the past few decades.
According to her, health complications of FGM include excessive blood loss, infections, poor wound healing, multiple complications such as chronic pain, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorders, severe difficulties during child birth, among others.
“These challenges during childbirth could result in stillbirths or death of the infant within the 1st 28 days of life,” she said.
Falade said that medical professionals could assist in preventing FGM through health education during all patient contacts, such as paediatric visits as well as routine health visits.
She stressed that it was essential that males be educated too considering the patriarchal nature of the society.
The public health expert emphasised the need for community awareness programmes and advocacy targeted at the enforcement of FGM related legislations.
“It is important to engage with critical stakeholders such as community, religious and women leaders to get their buy-in as FGM is entrenched in certain cultures.
“It is also important to conduct research to monitor trends in FGM to assess the effectiveness of interventions and identify at-risk target populations which require intensified interventions.
“Communities can work together to end FGM by engaging in community-led awareness campaigns.
“The government should also ensure the enforcement of FGM-related policies; parents should promote the current and future health status of their daughters by saying ‘NO’ to FGM,” Falade said.
Dr Dare Olagoke-Adaramoye,
Executive Director at Trailblazer Initiative Nigeria, Ọ̀yọ́ State Team Lead, UNICEF youth and media advocacy team, said FGM persisted in many communities because of a mix of deeply rooted cultural and social norms, gender inequality and misconceptions about its purpose.
He said UNICEF with other partners including government, civil society worked with boys, girls, women and men to challenge and change beliefs that sustained FGM.
He said UNICEF among other initiatives also promoted enforcement of laws like the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act that criminalise FGM.
“UNICEF engaged in massive grassroots mobilisation and youth empowerment and mobilised adolescent girls who now engage in community awareness to de-normalise FGM across Local Governments in Oyo State.
“We also engaged boys and men as agents of change and building local capacity to eliminate FGM.
“UNICEF supported survivors of FGM through its livelihood support programmes with Trailblazer Initiatives, access to free healthcare, including surgery, among others,” he said. (NAN)
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