The V word – Vaginas (and volunteers)

By Susanne Darcy: February 6th, 2012

“The problem with the word ‘vagina’ is that vaginas seem to be just straight-out bad luck. Only a masochist would want one, because only awful things happen to them. Vaginas get torn. Vaginas get ‘examined’. Evidence is found in them. Serial killers leave things in them, to taunt Morse . . . No one wants one of those.”

So says Caitlin Moran, in her bestselling book ‘How to be a women’. However comic, her words ring true for many women around the world. Today, on the UN ‘International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation’ we’re reminded that ‘awful things’ do happen.

Each year around three million girls – 8,000 a day – face Female Genital Mutilation. A harmful social convention, FGM, also known as cutting involves removing part, or all of a girls extended genitals. Usually aged between five and eleven most girls are cut without anesthetic and often with unsterilized blades which can increase the risk of spreading HIV.

Cath Holland has been campaigning against FGM since volunteering as a midwife with VSO in Kenya where she witnessed firsthand the devastating physical and mental repercussions this traditions has.

‘In that area, they say there are three sorrows of womanhood. The first is when a girl has her genitals removed, usually in her teens. The second is when she gets married and has to have her vagina opened so she can have penetrative sex, which is usually done using an animal’s horn. And the third is when she gives birth, and has to be cut again so the baby can be born”

There are no health benefits to FGM, only harm. The consequences can be fatal. Some girls die at the start of the procedure when the risk of haemorrhaging is high, others die weeks later from tetanus. A girl that’s been cut is more likely to develop fistula after giving birth which will often result in banishment from her community and where FGM is common there is an increased risk of both maternal and child mortality.

It’s not all doom and gloom. The key, campaigners argue, is to work with whole communities to bring about change. Because cutting takes place at the request of the girl’s family (an uncut girl is often considered unsuitable for marriage and rejected by her community), working with both men and women is the only way to get widespread rejection of the practice.

Former VSO volunteer Julia Lalla- Maharajh and founder of the UK charity the Orchid Project which is advocating for increased resources to support community based approaches says

‘the exponential rise in communities rejecting FGM means we can start to think about eradication in our lifetime. In 1899, 94 per cent of Chinese girls had their feet bound; by 1919 this was down to zero’.

VSO is a catalyst for change. From our volunteers who work in the hearts of communities to share their skills and empower people in the fight against poverty. To our returned volunteers, like Cath and Julia, who once back in the UK have new beliefs and passions that drive them to continue to stand up and make a difference.

If you want to find out more about volunteering, you can here.

Or you can simply start a conversation. Post this blog on your facebook. Talk about FGM in the pub.  If you feel something, do something today.

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