A mere thought of the procedure of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), where a woman’s labia and clitoris are completely or partially removed, causing her virginal opening to be largely covered by the healing scar tissues, casts no doubt on the brutality of such practice. It is further heart breaking to think that the procedure was done to “ensure” pre-marital puberty. Places such as Ethiopia traditionally practices FGM where countless females were damaged both physically and mentally, with the resulting increased birth complication risks and pain during sexual intercourse.

CEDAR’s partner, the Kale Heywet Church Development Commission (EKHC-DC), is a major advocate against FGM. They hold regular community events and workshops to train community ambassadors and host multiple Anti FGM groups that educate and advocate against FGM in their own communities. The participants would also advice against their relatives who consider letting their daughters or daughter-in-laws to go through FGM. They have also written a song against it in the hope that more people would forego this traditional practice, which has been banned by the national law long ago.

Tenaya Shaqa was spared from FGM and was married with her husband half a year ago. She gave birth to a daughter recently, and her mother-in-law was immensely grateful that the process only took Tenaya 15 minutes, comparing to herself where she had to be tortured by the pain 5 to 6 days on average for delivering each of her 8 children, due to the damage done by FGM.

Pray for regions including Ethiopia which still practice FGM to this day:

• May God bless those regions and bring the disadvantages of FGM into the light for the people where they would purge the tradition.
• Pray that the anti-FGM organizations such as the EKHC-DC could be fully utilized by Him in eradicating the practice.
• Pray for God’s healing both physically and mentally for the women who went through FGM.