IPNEWS:  At the ongoing Cabinet Retreat in Ganta, Nimba County, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has welcomed a bill intended to abolish the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Liberia. Speaking to a team of Journalists, Gender, Children, and Social Protection Minister Williametta E. Saydee-Tarr stated that the Ministry wholeheartedly welcomes the proposed legislation and calls on the 54th National Legislature to consider a speedy passage of the bill. She told reporters that for too long thousands of Liberian women and girls continue to suffer health implications and psychological problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and low self-esteem, among others as the result of the cutting.

The FGM Abolition bill was drafted and sponsored by Deputy Speaker of the House, Cllr. J. Fonati Koffa, and co-sponsored by Representatives Thomas Goshua, Isaac Roland, Ceebee C.D. Barshell, Richard Koon, and Rustonlyn Suacoco Dennis.

In his letter to the plenary, the Deputy Speaker noted: “The data is abundant and clear, that FGM has enormous psycho-social, social, and political implications far beyond the painful procedure usually practiced by non-medical personnel.”

Already, there is a 3-year moratorium on the practices of FMG. Over the years, the Ministries of Gender, Children and Social Protection, and Internal Affairs with funding from partners have worked with leaders of the National Council of Chiefs and Elders in conducting an inventory of all grooves in the country. The results from the inventory identified 1,335 traditional practitioners and 721 traditional grooves in the 11 FGM practices counties in 77 statutory and administrative districts in Liberia. To date, 300 of these traditional practitioners received alternative livelihood support as an alternative to the abandonment of the practice of Female Genital Mutilation.

In December of 2021, the Feminist-In-Chief H.E. Dr. George Manneh Weah affirmed his government’s commitment to ending FGM at a virtually held Summit for Democracy hosted by H.E. Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States of America

“We have begun engagements with our traditional leaders to end all forms of harmful traditional practices such as Female Genital Mutilation. We will shortly forward an Anti-FGM bill for passage by the National Legislature,” the Liberian Leader assured participants at the summit.

As stated by the World Health Organization, female genital mutilation involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or another injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

The practice has no health benefits for girls and women. FGM can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth, and an increased risk of newborn deaths.