By Arret Jatta
Mariama Fatajo a Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) survivor has said that many marriedwomen who are circumcised use lubricant or “Taba” (a local drug) for sexual pleasure.
She said this during a consultation meeting with National Assembly Joint Committee of Health and Gender, Children and Social Welfare
“Most circumcised women find it hard to get wet down there when it’s time to get intimate with their husbands. So most of them use lubricants or “Taba” for their sexual activity”, she remarked.
“I know a lot of women who use “Taba” and are still supporting FGM because they see it as part of religion and culture and some cannot comment on it because of the shame associated with it”, she added.
Ms. Fatajo mentioned that currently, men are the ones having an opinion on the matter of FGM.
“The ones who are talking now are men, saying this is part of our religion and culture but they women are quite because the shame that comes with them talking about it,” she said.
She also suggests that if FGM should continue, then they should wait until girls turn 18 years, so that they can decide for themselves.
“Let’s allow girls to reach 18years and see if they will allow this traumatizing experience to happen to them, forcefully holding someone to cut their body without any anesthesia injection. Who will want that”, she questioned.
“Men don’t sit to talk to us, and we women won’t want to be talking about our private part all the time. Not all women are comfortable doing that. When we come out to talk about our FGM experiences too, they will call us liars, and say are we the only ones who have undergone FGM, but what I’ve seen on my body is what I can talk about and I know that it’s caused by FGM,” Ms. Fatajo noted.
She further said that even if one woman says she has experienced pain due to FGM, they should pay attention to her especially if it’s more than one.
“At this point I will ask men to marry two wives. One who is circumcised and the other who is not circumcised, if this happens we will see men coming out to say women should not be circumcised,” she concluded.