The president of the Chadian League for Women’s Rights underlines at the microphone of RFI that female genital mutilation remains common in her country despite a law punishing these practices. ” People who do it never get arrested, so everyone thinks it’s okay to do it again “, laments Épiphanie Nodjikoua Dionrang.
February 6 is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. Internationally, these practices are considered a violation of the human rights of women and girls, including their rights to health, safety and physical integrity.
The United Nations has set itself the goal of putting an end to these mutilations by 2030. Five years ago, however, there were still 200 million to undergo these practices.
In Chad, a new penal code, established 7 years ago, provided for one to five years in prison and a fine of 100,000 CFA francs. But today, activists complain that this law is still not applied. Épiphanie Nodjikoua Dionrang, President of the Chadian League for Women’s Rights.
” People who do it never get arrested »
” The applicability of the texts remains the big challenge in fact at the momentexplains Épiphanie Nodjikoua Dionrang, president of the Chadian League for Women’s Rights, at the microphone of Sebastien Nemeth. Mutilations are done every day in rural areas or in the city, even in hospitals “.
Epiphany Nodjikoua Dionrang continues: “ On the government side, there is no seriousness, they do not really put pressure to be able to punish the perpetrators. People who do it are never arrested, so everyone thinks it’s still okay to do it. We are always in this perspective that these are our habits and customs, it is our culture and that we must do it. However, many women who undergo this have so many problems afterwards… »
And to assure: If this law is applied, it will really deter perpetrators. So there will already be this fear of “sif a person does it, they have to be arrested, they have to pay fines or go to jail“. This means that it will reduce genital mutilation and it will change things. »
► To listen also: Priority Health – International Day Against Female Genital Mutilation