Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
An initiation ceremony for girls in the West African country of Guinea
at the heart of the secret ritual is the ancient practice
excision more commonly known as female genital cutting.
It's been fifty years since Tante Maru was excised
but ninety-eight percent of girls are still cut here in Guinea.
Appalled by the deaths and suffering of women she witnessed in her thirty eight
years as a midwife
Tante Maru now spearheads a campaign challenging excision.
A tabu subject, the practice has remained a secret passed down through generations
of women,
until now. Backed by international children's organization Plan
Tante Maru informs girls about the health risks of excision.
Her organization even came up with an alternative
initiation ceremony.
The project has taken this
area of Guinea by storm. Within a year one village declared publicly that
it would no longer practice
excision. And despite threats to Tante Maru and the community
other villages are following [unclear] example. Health workers in women's groups
have struggled to end the practice for decades,
so the success of this project is taken everyone by surprise.
Tante Maru puts it down to their strategy.
This public movement is growing amongst girls and boys, as well as adults.
And although the practice hasn't been eradicated, the secret behind female
genital cutting has now been exposed.