Momentum Picks Up Against Harmful Traditional Practices in Ethiopia

Pathfinder-Ethiopia is now in its third year of an extraordinary five-year project that has as one of its aims the elimination of harrmful traditional practices (HTPs) that undermine women’s reproductive health and rights, such as female genital cutting (FGC) and early marriage. Pathfinder, in collaboration with the National Committee for Traditional Practices in Ethiopia (NCTPE), seeks to promote awareness of the adverse effects of HTPs, dialogue about what should be done to prevent their practice, and a sense of social responsibility at the local and national levels for eliminating these violations of women’s human rights.

Leaders conduct a community dialogue about HTPs

One of the practices on which the project focuses is FGC, a prevalent custom in Ethiopia and one with serious immediate and long-term physical and psychological effects. Up to 140 million women worldwide have undergone this procedure, which can cause loss of sexual pleasure, hemorrhaging, infection, complications in childbirth, and even death. A FGC procedure is, however, often considered by its practitioners to be a necessary rite of passage for young girls in order to restrain sexuality and ensure their marriageability. Pathfinder and NCTPE work directly with policymakers, religious leaders, women’s organizations and communities to alter perceptions about FGC and create awareness of its adverse consequences. 

Ex-Circumcisers Attend Public Wedding of Uncircumcised Girls

In February of 2004, Pathfinder provided technical and financial support to the Inter-African Committee for Traditional Practices for a workshop during the first International Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation Day. The conference was officially commenced by President Girma Wolde-Giorgis and included government, UN and NGO representatives from around the world, who pledged to redouble their efforts to eradicate FGC and press African governments to outlaw the practice. Pathfinder also organized a public wedding ceremony attended by over 3000 people to celebrate the marriage of four couples that chose to reject FGC.  Pathfinder also co-sponsored a nationwide contest featuring various works of art, song, drama, and poetry that expressed the brutality and suffering caused by HTPs and gender-based violence, which ended in an awards ceremony at the national theater in November.

A significant triumph in the struggle against FGC in Ethiopia has been the adoption a new penal code in June 2004 making FGC punishable by law. Previous laws forbidding FGC did not establish any repercussions for violators, making them easy to ignore. Pathfinder-Ethiopia intends to hold “legal awareness workshops” to educate leaders and communities about the new law, women’s rights, and the dangers of FGC and other HTPs. Public rallies condemning FGC, an increase in the number of uncircumcised girls and the cancellation of thousands of early marriages so that girls can continue their educations have all been encouraging signs of a shift in social and political will to do away with pervasive HTPs. This project is part of a larger Pathfinder program that also aims to increase access to family planning, improve reproductive health care, and empower Ethiopian girls and women. 

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