FGM Survivors on radio share how their pain is Everlasting and that FGM must End, Nigeria

By Ekemini Joseph.

Ekemini Joseph, anti-FGM campaigner reports conversations from his most recent radio show where he talks to survivors to highlight the awful pain many women go through and are still facing today.

The Radio Show:

On the show, Inemesit Ifot, a foremost Ibibio presenter on her show Mbono Iban; which outlines issues affecting women. On the show too, we hosted a religious leader, deaconess Emem Samson, who outlined that the church does not support the idea of female genital mutilation.

We also had a medical expert in the studio, Dr. UbongAbasi Victor who told us about the adverse effect of FGM on women.

We brought a women leader from the community where the cut is prominent, Ekanle Emmanuel, she was cut but she expressed that the effects on her and people she knows would not let her allow any of her 4 daughters experience the same. She admonished the women in the community as well as the men to come together to end the act. We had a story from a young lady who has been cut and she narrated how it affects her after many years.

The callers on the show got to learn that people still practice the act, as well as we learned about new areas it is very prevalent.

What worked?

I have had feedback on the jingle we produced and aired for the period of one week. The jingle narrated the ceremonial occasion that leads to the cut. It expressed every girl’s joy of dancing, singing, and having friends around who celebrate them, and it also narrates how the moment joy ends in tears and life lasting pains.

The calls we had show that the jingle was relatable and portrays exactly how it happens.

On the show, I was very happy that we heard from survivors – those that have gone through female genital mutilation. It wasn’t just experts talking but someone in the community experienced it and shared her story.

Language:

The show taking indigenous language worked, we had calls that show how people felt about it. Some callers were aware of it and wanted it to end, some knew about places it was still strong while others were just learning about it.