Female Genital Mutilation has become a course for concern. Young girls have become victims of oppression by the way and manner they undergo the pain and suffering in the hands of traditional bundo society women .
In Sierra Leone, a woman who was known to have been behind the FGM initiative is Madam Yoko. She endeavor in her campaign to ensure that girls coming up should undergo FGM. According to customs and tradition, any woman who does not go through such process is stigmatise in society making her to feel inferior in the presence of her colleagues who had undergone the process.
There are others who believe that without FGM, a woman will never complete and therefore, they call uncircumcised women with a nickname ‘gborka’ . Because of this, parent will ensure they send their girl child to be initiated into the bundo society. There have been cases of girls going through the process and later lost their lives through profuse bleeding. This has been one of the main reason why some section of the world consider it a violation on the rights of women.
Fatmata Mansaray has suffered the worse form of FGM. She is in pain because of her refusal to be initiated. Times SL Newspaper gathered that Fatmata’s case is just one among many. There are others who are suffering in silence. Their cries have not been heard because majority of the women who are part and parcel of the society are strong and eminent personalities. They have command over women folks to the extent that they have what it takes to bring unrest. Because of this, successive governments have failed to put things in place in trying to regulate their affairs.
The case of Fatmata has left many wondering as to why she is been force to undergo FGM.
Times SL gathered that Fatmata’s mother is a strong member of the society and that the Bundo women have strong reason to get her initiated. In spite of all that, Fatmata has deliberately refused to be initiated hence the reason why she was declared wanted. Her whereabouts remained unknown. Some of her closed friends told this medium that the young girl is afraid of undergoing the process due to what others have experienced. Civil Society Organizations as well as Human Rights Groups have all condemn the harmful traditional practice of FGM but all those concerns have gone on deaf ears. Government is afraid of taking strong decision for fear of losing votes in re-election because women formed larger part of the country’s population.