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Thousands of Liberian girls are initiated every year into
Sande Society |
MONROVIA, 24 September 2008 (IRIN) - Thousands of young girls annually
prepare for their initiation into a women’s secret association, Sande Society,
which operates mostly in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. As part of their
initiation, young women take a vow of secrecy after weeks of training in the
forest, promising not to not tell uninitiated girls or men what happens to
them, to assume new names, and to have their clitorises cut off - known as female
genital mutilation (FGM) - according to women in the secret society.
About half of Liberia’s some 16 ethnic groups, including the Bassa, Mende, Gola
and Kissi, observe the rules of this historically-secret, centuries-old
society.
One Mende member from Tubmanburg, Western Liberia, who asked not to be named,
told IRIN removing a girl’s clitoris helps her become a “prolific child
bearer.”
Another member, 42-year-old Jebbeh Sonneh, explained to IRIN, “Those who
perform such [FGM] acts are typically elderly women in the community designated
for the task, or traditional birth attendants.”
Secrecy shrouds outreach
Sociologist Theo Kerkulah at the University of Liberia in Monrovia says even
though the practice of rural forest initiations is common in Liberia, it is not
openly discussed. “It is a difficult topic to teach. Most girls who joined the
society are now in the classroom and never feel happy when you talk about it in
the open. They feel [it is a betrayal]. Perhaps because of the myths that are
associated with it.”
Kerkulah says the girls are bound by secrecy vows and the time they spend
together in the forest where they undergo trainingto enter adulthood, learning
domestic skills and moral lessons.
The lecturer told IRIN many girls believe the spirit of Sande, the guardian of
women, guides them into and during adulthood.
Monrovia-based medical researcher Deddeh Siah says physical pain is an
additional factor binding the young girls, “In some Sandes [initiates], not
only is her genitalia removed, the student is marked [cut] so that large scars
remain on the skin of the initiate for life.”
She estimates about 5,000 puberty-aged adolescents join the group every year,
either by force or choice.
Culture can kill
Sandes are a part of Liberia’s cultural heritage, says Jomo Weah who works at a
government-run culture centre in Kendeja, on the outskirts of Monrovia. “We
cannot stop it. It is our culture. We can only intervene by allowing them to go
about doing it when the girls are on school break.”
Local civil society groups including Girls Movement for Education have tried to
discourage parents from allowing their girls to join Sande Society.
Government health worker Mary Mah says FGM is killing hundreds of girls in
Liberia every year. “Over 20 percent of the initiates die from excessive
bleeding after their clitoris has been removed.”
Mah told IRIN if excessive pain and extreme bleeding do not kill the girls, FGM
can scar or disfigure her for life. “Risk of serious potentially
life-threatening complications [include] ongoing bleeding, infection including
HIV, urine retention, stress, shock…[and] psychological trauma.”
Catherine Watson Khasu, an elected leader in Grand Cape Mount County in Western
Liberia, about 140 km from Monrovia, dismisses these risks, “People have said
all sorts of things against our cultural heritage, which are not true. I am a
member of the Sande [Society] and I’m proud of it. There is nothing harmful
about the Sande.”
She told IRIN the government and human rights organisations should respect the
tradition of Liberia’s indigenous groups, “We know the [1989-2003 civil] war
did a lot of damage to our country, but that does not mean we should desecrate
our traditional shrines.”
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