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The debates of the CoP

The Debates of the Community ofPractice on FGM

Cross Border Female GenitalMutilation

December 2019

Why are girls taken across the borders to haveFemale Genital Mutilation performed?

How can we tackle this phenomenon?

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I. Introduction

Cross Border Female GenitalMutilation

September 2019

The practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been declining globallyover the last three decades. In 30 African countries with nationallyrepresentative prevalence data, around 1 in 3 girls aged 15 to 19 haveundergone the practice, versus 1 in 2 in the mid-1980s. Fast decline amonggirls aged 15 to 19 has occurred across countries with varying levels ofFGM prevalence, including Burkina Faso, Egypt, Kenya, Liberia and Togo.These massive shifts have been attributed to FGM awareness campaignsas well as national laws banning the practice.

However, not all countries have made progress and the pace of decline hasbeen uneven. (UNICEF, 2018)

Moreover, evidence suggests that communities in countries where FemaleGenital Mutilation is legally prohibited are taking their girls across nationalborders in order to have them undergo FGM. This phenomena is known as“Cross-border female genital mutilation/cutting”.

In this thematic note drafted for the Community of Practice on FGM weseek to provide anoverview of the issue of cross-border FGM, with examples from differentcontexts. The aim is to open a discussion on this practice and to learnfrom different experiences of how to tackle it.

The Debates of the CoP

Cross Border Female Genital Mutilation

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The debates of the CoP

Cross Border Female Genital Mutilation

December 2019

II. What is Cross Border FGM

Cross-border FemaleGenital Mutilation has three main aspects. (GRIGED 2008)1- Circumcisers move across borders towards the families ;2- Families move across borders to the circumcisers ;3- Concurrent moving of circumcisers and families across borders.

There is currently little research available on cross-border Existingevidence and reports in the media refer to ongoing movements betweenKenya and Somalia, Burkina Faso and Mali/Niger/Ivory Coast/, Ghana andTogo/Burkina Faso.

A study was done by the GRIGED in Burkina Faso and the neighboringcountries Mali, Ghana and Niger. Another study is currently ongoing at theborder between Burkina Faso and Mali and the preliminary findingsconfirm the cross-border practice of FGM (Wouango and al, forthcoming2019).

What drives people across border to practice FGM? The main factors thatdrive cross-border FGM seem to be:· Seeking to avoid prosecution· Family, ethnic and cultural connections · Avoiding family disputes over cutting or not

III.Legal situations facilitating cross-border practice of FGM Female Genital Mutilation remains an entrenched cultural and religiousdriven act in practicing communities. While global efforts have been madeto curb this issue evidence suggests that families, excisors and practicionersstill find ‘creative ways’ to uphold the practice.

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The debates of the CoP

Cross Border Female Genital mutilation

December 2019

In some countries where FGM has become illegal, the practice has bothbeen pushed underground and across borders to avoid prosecution. Themovement of families and traditional practitioners across national bordersfor the purpose of FGM is a complex challenge for the campaign to endthe practice, and women and girls living in border communities can beparticularly vulnerable. (28 too many, 2018)

6 African countries currently have no legistlation against FGM: Chad,Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan. The lack of laws againstFGM in these countries provide the possibility for communities inneighboring communities to travel and practice FGM where it is legal.

"Before, that is, before we even started talking about the law, people weredoing it (FGM) here, we did not need to move. It is because there was the lawthat people sought to hide, to go elsewhere. You will agree with me that travelis expensive. If it's not because of the law, people would not move.” ABurkinabe youth leader, interviewed bythe GRIGED, 2008.

Nevertheless, in settings where the practice is illegal on both sides of theborder, communities may prefer to practice it in another country, wherethey are not known.

For example, Ghanaian families take their daughters to Burkina Faso and Togodespite the laws in the neighbouring countries as “the perpetrators [fromGhana] prefer the "Cross-border cutting” because nobody will identify themand report them to the police”. (Modern Ghana, 2015)

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The debates of the CoP

FGM, a matter of religion ?

Cross Border Female Genital Mutilation

December 2019

Most anti-FGM laws in Africa do not specifically address the issue of cross-border FGM. In fact, only 3 countries (Guinea Bissau, Kenya and Uganda)have provisions that prohibit and punish cross border FGM. Moreover, across border initiative is currently implemented in East Africa (Ethiopia,Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda) and supported by the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on FGM. (UNFPA, 2019) Likewise, a few Europeancountries and several US States lack a “principle of extraterritoriality” andmake so call “vacation cutting” legally possible.

IV. Importance of cultural and family connectionsBecause of its clandestine nature, cross-border FGM raises questionsabout the existence of networks supporting it.

Evidence from Burkina Faso and neighboring countries suggests thatofficials, at the central level and in the border areas, family and culturalties between communities on both sides of the border favor the cross-border practice of excision. (GRIGED, 2008)

For example, in the border localities between Burkina Faso and Niger therole of family ties appears to be an anchor of the practice of cross-borderexcision. The Peuhl communities of Tera (Nigerian side) and those ofFalagountou (Burkina Faso side) are linked by kinship relations supportedby endogamous marriages. Respect for cultural norms including FGM isimportant and excision becomes a family affair: all members of the familyare in solidarity to contribute to its realization, regardless of their place ofresidence. In other words, parental bonds serve as both a foundation anda cover for cross-border practice. Similar situations can be found inMakalondi (Niger) and Kantchari (Burkina Faso) inhabited by Gourmantchcommunity on both sides of the border. (GRIGED, 2008)

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The debates of the CoP

FGM, a matter of religion ?

Cross Border Female Genital mutilation

December 2019

"It exists because they have family on the other side but they consult thefetishes before. Afterwards, they pretend to travel to see the family on the otherside...People practice excision in hiding. The initiatory rites are no longervisible." Focus  group young kantchari, Burkina Faso border with Niger,GRIGED, 2008

V. Examples of Cross- Border FGM Burkina Faso / Mali – Ghana – Niger – Ivory Coast

In 2008, the GRIGED conducted one of few studies of Cross-border FGM inthe border regions of Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Niger.Looking at the state and situation of the practice along these areas, theresearch aimed to collect information on the effectiveness of thestrategies to combat FGM in different areas.

The study was essentially qualitative and was mainly conducted usingobservations along the borders as well as interviews with relevant stakeholders.

During the study communities in areas around the Burkina-Faso/Ghanaborder did not easily acknowledge the existence of cross-border FGM.Respondents often refused to say that they had seen cases of cross-border practice for fear that they will be asked to give the names of thepeople involved, including parents or neighbors. This makes it hard toprove the existence of the practice as there is no concrete evidence ofcross border practice cases.  (GRIGED, 2008).

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The debates of the CoP

FGM, a matter of religion ?

Cross Border Female Genital Mutilation

December 2019

"I certainly have never seen, but in the talks, I must have heard that people areleaving with the children here [in Burkina Faso], that they are going to havethem excised there Here, there are laws that are there. If you do not respectthese laws, whenyou are caught only excising your daughter, you are doomed.We even saw on TV, we heard on the radio that people were sentenced for ayear or six months. This is where people bring their children to Ivory Coastbecause there, you can do that without problems. So that's it. We heard. I'venever seen. We learned" Excerpt from a group focus in Niangoloko, Burkina Faso (GRIGED, 2008)

At the same time, the GRIGED note that, as a clandestine practice, cross-border excision is not very perceptible to the population, and even less soto those involved in the fight against the practice.

However, in the border areas of Burkina Faso and Mali, cross-border FGMseems to be a well-known phenomenon.

"Cross-border excision is an undeniable reality in the region of Ouahigouyaand its surroundings and this because of the proximity to Mali and thehistorical links that unite the population. People travel by mopeds and buses toKoro and other small border villages to have their children excised. They gothere especially during the rainy season and the cold season. One of the villagechiefs with whom we are working against FGM has told me one day that if wewanted to succeed in our fight, we had to go to the border to put in securityand health workers." Iinterview with project officer, Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso, GRIGED 2008.

"Some women leave Burkina Faso to come and excise their daughters here [inMali]. I will not give you names, otherwise I know where they are. It is awidespread phenomenon here. It is mainly the Burkinabe who do it; whetherthey come from Burkina or those who are here in Koro, they all practiceexcision ... " Interview with representative of an organization, Mali, GRIGED, 2008.

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The debates of the CoP

FGM, a matter of religion ?

Cross Border Female Genital Mutilation

September 2019

The Population Council Burkina Faso and Mali cross-border study confirmthat kinship relations outweigh the border division. People move easilyalong the border, members of the same ethnic groups live on either site,they have relatives on each part of the border, share the same customsand culture. The practice of FGM is therefore embedded in this culturalcross-border exchange (Wouango and al, forthcoming, 2019).

Ghana / Burkina Faso - TogoThere is evidence of cross-border FGM in Ghana’s border regions withBurkina Faso and Togo, although the practice is outlawed in all threecountries. A study by Sakeah, E, et al., published in 2019, concluded thateasy travels across borders is one of the factors contributing in FGMcontinuing to thrive in the country despite it being illegal since 1994. Theirdata suggest that in regions close to the borders of Burkina Faso andTogo, “national borders are less important in defining zones for this practicethan traditional tribal boundaries”. Women travel easily across to theneighboring country to circumcise their daughter(s).

“Since communities at the borders share the same historical background,traditions and customs with their counterparts in Burkina Faso and Togo, ithas become easy for community members from these settings to continue toelude established laws for cross the borders to circumcise their daughtersbecause the tradition knows no boundaries. Halting the practice along bordercommunities would therefore demand a cross-border approach. This isparticularly crucial in the case of Ghana where laws against the practice areweaker [than?] in the neighboring countries where the practice is moreprofound.” (Sakeah, 2019)

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The debates of the CoP

FGM, a matter of religion ?

Cross Border female Genital Mutilation

December 2019

Kenya/Uganda – Tanzania- Ethiopia – SomaliaFive countries, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Somalia, account foralmost a quarter of the 200 million women and girls worldwide who haveundergone FGM (an estimated 48.5 million). While the prevalence of FGMamong women aged 15–49 is 21% in Kenya, 98% in Somalia, 65% inEthiopia, 10 % in Tanzania and only 0,3% in Uganda, a recent report byUNFPA Kenya note that communities across borders often have higherprevalence.

In the five countries, five ethnic groups reside in more than one country(the Kikuyu, Kuria, Maasai, Pokot and Somalis). They share traditions andcultures, including the practice of FGM. A 2019 UNFPA report highlight thedifferences in the practice of across and within countries in Eastern Africa,particularly with regard to age of cutting. At the same time, the reportshows that ethnic groups across the borders share similarities in thepractice. For example, Somali girls in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia andSomaliland are at risk of undergoing the cut at the same period in theirlives. However, there are also differences within the Somali community interms of type of practice (Somalis in Kenya tend to practice type I, those inSomalia more often practice type IV). (UNFPA-UNICEF JP, 2019)

A Kenyan baseline study commissioned by the Anti-FGM Board andUNICEF in 2017 had previously shown the influence of bordercommunities on the prevalence of FGM. A survey showed a significantnumber of women living in bordering countries who had visited Kenyawith a girl who was to undergo FGM. Different stakeholders in the studyreported that cross-border practice as a common reality. There is, forexample, a trend for married women from Uganda to be taken across theborder into Kenya into Kenya to undergo FGM secretly. Moreover,circumcisers from Kenya also travel into Uganda to perform FGM. (UNFPA-UNICEF JP, 2019)

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The debates of the CoP

FGM, a matter of religion ?

Cross Border Female Genital Mutilation

December 2019

Activists from Kenya testify of cross-border FGM in regions close to theTanzanian border.

«  The Masaïi communities that live in both countries share culturalpractices, including FGM, and have land and family members on bothsides of the national borders. They can easily move girls to one side or the other to have them undergo FGM » Felister Gitonga, Equality Now, Kenyaoffice the same goes for the Kuria community who live in Kenya andTanzania, on both sides of the border. According to activists from theMiscinana empowerment organisation, one of the main strategies offamilies who want to have their daughters undergo FGM is to take themaccross the border. (Robi Tingo, N.)

VI. What can be done to tackle Cross Border FGM ·  At a national level : Tighten national legislations around cross-borderFGM and so that those who participate in any action that results in womenand girls being moved between countries to be cut are punished.

· Regional cooperation is essential. The UNFPA-UNICEF JP on FGM stressthe importance of cross-border initiatives to eliminating FGM acrossregions. "To address disparities in FGM laws among neighboring countries,interventions have included policy collaboration, legislation andcommunications. Work has also begun on region-wide laws banning thepractice. In East Africa, for example, a draft regional protocol addressescross-border cooperation, implementation of national laws and the 2016United Nations resolution. This draft protocol informed the 2017 EastAfrican Legislative Assembly FGM Bill, which aims to equip technicalexperts with legal powers to track and conduct interventions acrossborders. The Joint Programme also supported the passage of the 2016East African Community Gender Equality and Development Bill. The law isexpected to enhance regional cooperation on prosecuting perpetrators ofFGM.”

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The debates of the CoP

FGM, a matter of religion ?

Cross Border Female Genital mutilation

December 2019

Examples of regional initiatives :

·The East African Community Prohibition of Female GenitalMutilation ActIn 2016, the East African Community passed the East African CommunityProhibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act (EAC Act), making FGM atransnational crime between its member countries. Members includeKenya, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, all of which have communitiesthat practise FGM but varying degrees of national law enforcement againstit.  (28 too many, 2018)« A person commits an offence if the person takes another person from aPartner State to another partner State or another country, or arranges foranother person to be brought into a Partner State from another countrywith the intention of having that other person subjected to female genitalmutilation. » Article 6 of the EAC Act, 28 too many, 2018 Similar regionallaws would need to be implemented in other regions.

· The Declaration and Action Plan to End cross-border FGM by Kenya,Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia,In April 2019 5 countries in East Africa adopted a common Declaration andAction plan to address FGM, including cross-border FGM. This initiative issupported by the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on FGM and thedeclaration is seen as a “land mark meeting to declare an end to FGM,particularly cross border dimensions of FGM”. This meeting is the first ofits kind in the history of global efforts to eradicate FGM. The participatinggovernments put forward recommendations that reaffirmed the need forstrong partnerships at all levels to end FGM.

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The debates of the CoP

FGM, a matter of religion ?

Cross Border Female Genital Mutilation

December 2019

The Plan of Action has 4 priority areas: 1. Improvement of legislative and policy frameworks and environment toend cross border female genital mutilation ;2. Effective and efficient coordination and collaboration among the 5national governments to end female genital mutilation within theirborders ;3. Communication and advocacy on cross border female genital mutilationprevention and response ;4. National governments, academia and statistical offices have bettercapacity to generate and use evidence and data for addressing crossborder female genital mutilation. (UNFPA Kenya, 2019)

· Joint-programme on FGM cross-border initiatives against FGMThe Joint Programme on FGM has implemented cross-border initiatives totackle FGM in several regions (UNFPA-UNICEF, 2018), including: · The Gambia and Senegal – with the aim to raise awareness and develop aplan of action to increase surveillance in border communities between thetwo countries for identification and reporting of children at risk ofundergoing FGM.· Portugal, Guinea-Bissau. Working with the governments as well as CSOs,including Bissau- Guinean diaspora in portugal, in support of theprevention of vacation cutting. The programme targetedemigration/border posts in both countries, particularly at airports, borderauthorities were provided with information on FGM and legislation inPortugal and Guinea-Bissau.

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The debates of the CoP

FGM, a matter of religion ?

Cross Border Female Genital Mutilation

December 2019

. Uganda and Kenya, involving marathons (including two regional cross-border marathon between Uganda and Kenya) involving high level politicaland religious representative in the focus areas. More than 1,200 athletesfrom Uganda, Ethiopia and Kenya participated in the event organized in2017. Four cross-border meetings on FGM were also conducted involvinghigh level political, cultural and community participants from Uganda andKenya.

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What do you think ?

The debates of the CoP

Cross Border Female Genital Mutilation

December 2019

Does cross border FGM exist in your country? Doyou have data and proof of the practice? How can we eradicate cross border practice in ourcommunities? In your experience, have regional laws as the EACAct had a beneficial effect on cross-border FGM? What other measures can be takes to tackle cross-border FGM?

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Les débats de la CoP

REFERENCES & RESSOURCES

December 2019

1.28 Too Many, 2018, The Law and FGM: An Overview of 28 AfricanCountries https://www.28toomany.org/Law (6/6/2019) 2. 28 Too Many, 2018, SOMALIA: THE LAW AND FGM July 2018,https://www.28toomany.org/static/media/uploads/Law%20Reports/somalia_law_report_(july_2018).pdf  (26/6/2019) 3. Africa News, 2018, Kenyan girls smuggled across border for FGMprocedure https://www.africanews.com/2018/12/18/kenya-girls-smuggled-across-borders-for-fgm-procedures-group/ 4. All Africa, 2008, West Africa: Cross border FGM the risehttps://allafrica.com/stories/200810171079.html 5. AMJ trop. Med Hygiene, 2015, Geographic Variation of Female GenitalMutilation and Legal Enforcement in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case Study ofSenegal https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4385784/ 6. End FGM European Network, FGM in Europe https://www.endfgm.eu/female-genital-mutilation/fgm-in-europe/ 7. Gitonga, F. Equality Now, November 2019, personal communication

8. GRIGED, 2008, Pratique transfrontalière de l’excision  : Etat des lieux et évaluation des actions dans les zones frontalières du Burkina Faso, de laCôte d’Ivoire, du Ghana, du Mali et du Niger 9. Modern Ghana, 2015, FGM Beyond the Borders: Ghanaian cross over toBurkina Faso and Togo to cut their children.https://www.modernghana.com/news/596325/1/fgm-beyond-the-borders-ghanaians-cross-over-to-bur.html

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10. Tobi Tingo, Natalie, November 2019, personal communication 11. Sakeah, E, etal. 2019, Persistent female genital mutilation despite its illegality:Narratives from women and men in northern Ghana,https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0214923#abstract0 12. Starr News. Cross-border Female Genital Mutilation rampant in UpperEast region. Ghana;2014.  https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/regional/Cross-border-Female-Genital-Mutilation-rampant-in-Upper-East-region-339646 13. The New Humanitarian, 2008, Cross border FGM/C on the risehttp://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/report/80988/west-africa-cross-border-fgmc-rise 14. Tostan Digital for all, 2014, Cross border meeting between Senegaleseand Gambian communities to discuss ending Femalegenital mutilation a. https://www.tostan.org/cross-border-meeting-between-senegalese-gambian-communities-discuss-ending-female-genital/ 15. UNFPA Kenya, 2019, 1stRegional Inter-Ministerial Meeting to #EndCrossBorderFGM Available: https://kenya.unfpa.org/en/publications/ending-cross-border-fgm 16. UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation:Accelerating Change, 2018, Performance Analysis for Phase II

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17. UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation:Accelerating Change, 2019, Beyond the crossing - FEMALE GENITALMUTILATION ACROSS BORDERS - Ethiopia,Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda 18. UNICEF, 2016, New statistical report on Female Genital Mutilationshows that harmful practice is a global concern,https://www.unicef.org/media/media_90033.html 19. UNICEF, 2018, Child protection/Female Genital Mutilation ,https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/female-genital-mutilation/ 20. WHO, 2016, Female Genital Mutilation,https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/fgm/prevalence/en/ 21. Women in The World, 2018, FGM prevalence rate in dramatic declineacross Africa, https://womenintheworld.com/2018/11/07/fgm-prevalence-rates-in-dramatic-decline-across-africa-study-finds/ 22. Wouango, J., Ostermann, S. and Mwanga D (forthcoming 2019), Whenand How does Law Effectively Reduce the Practice of FGM/C. Acrossborder Study in Burkina Faso and Mali,” Evidence to End FGM/C:Research to Help Girls and Women Thrive. New York: Population Council

The Community of Practice on FGM is part of the Building Bridgesbetween Africa and Europe to tackle FGM project, supported by the

UNFPA-UNICEF Joint programme on FGM.

The views expressed in this document are those of the authors and donot necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the UNFPA,

UNICEF or any other agency or organization.

The Debates of the Community ofPractice on FGM

Cross Border Female Genital MutilationDecember 2019