‘I remember one evening, in the dark, I heard screams,’ Haoua says. ‘I was sitting down. After a few moments, I don't remember anything else. I had fainted.
‘When I woke up, the circumcision had already happened. They had sewn everything up, and it was difficult to walk, move, and urinate. The pain was terrible.’
That was the most terrifying experience Haoua had ever faced, and something that impacted every day of her life since. ‘I am a victim of female genital mutilation and cutting,’ she says.
Harming women and girls
Haoua lives in Ras Al Fil, a small town nestled in a valley in Batha province, Chad. Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) has been a tradition for generations among the local and nomadic communities. This harmful practice has life-changing consequences in the lives of women, but the tradition remains prevalent.
Tearfund’s partner Centres Chrétiens d’Appui au Développement Communautaire / Christian Centre of Development Support (CECADEC) helps communities and speaks out for change. It promotes long-term development to improve the lives of people in rural areas. CECADEC works with local communities to tackle long-standing social, economic, and cultural issues and to challenge community attitudes that support harmful practices.
A key part of CECADEC's work is preventing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and FGM/C. This involves training young Christians from Chad's Evangelical Church on how to address gender-based violence. FGM/C is a serious issue in Chad, affecting 34.1 per cent of women aged 15 to 49, according to 2019 data. This practice is often deeply tied to local traditions and frequently happens alongside early marriage.
Chad’s push for change
CECADEC’s projects support the larger national and international push to enforce Chad's 2002 Reproductive Health Law more effectively, which bans FGM/C. By focusing on engaging and educating communities, CECADEC plays a vital role in the struggle to end these harmful practices and protect the health and rights of women and girls in Chad.
‘Thank God, a lot has changed since we started the project,’ Haoua explains. ‘During community discussions, we talk about many topics, especially peaceful coexistence and female genital mutilation or cutting.
‘Through this transformative project, we have been empowered to openly share our experiences and bear witness to the profound suffering that FGM/C has inflicted on us as married women.
‘For many of us, this has been a vital opportunity to truly understand how damaging the practice is, strengthening our resolve to break this cycle and make sure our daughters are spared from such a fate.
‘Thanks to awareness campaigns, even the circumcisers themselves have learned about the harmful effects of this practice. So FGM/C is disappearing.
Tearfund’s work preventing sexual and gender-based violence
According to the World Health Organisation, sexual and gender-based violence affects approximately one in three women. Tearfund’s approach is to challenge the social norms and beliefs that perpetuate gender inequality and violence towards women. We seek to be led by survivors as we pursue an end to sexual and gender-based violence globally.
We focus on listening to the stories of survivors, facilitating discussions between men and women, transforming harmful concepts of masculinity, and raising awareness about the harms of female genital mutilation or cutting.
An end in sight?
The UN General Assembly designated 6 February each year as the International Day of Zero Tolerance for female genital mutilation, to amplify and direct efforts to eliminate this practice.
The theme this year, ‘Towards 2030: No end to female genital mutilation without sustained commitment and investment,’ stresses that governments, communities, charities, and global organisations must keep working and provide funding. Every action, new law, support programme, place for discussion, or personal story, moves us closer to a world without female genital mutilation.
Haoua also has hope for an end to these harmful practices. ‘We are confident that, with God's grace and our collective efforts, this harmful tradition will ultimately end.
‘I want to express immense gratitude to the project for the invaluable knowledge and insights we are gaining. My fervent hope is that our young girls will never have to endure this painful ordeal and that a future free from FGM/C awaits them.’
