Three teen girls have died in Sierra Leone after they underwent female genital mutilation or FGM.
Four school girls make their way to class in Freetown on April 12, 2022. (Photo by JOHN WESSELS / AFP) (Photo by JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images)
FGM is a procedure that involves removing all or parts of the female genitalia for non-medical reasons.
A young girl carries water back to her family from the river in Wilberforce November 26, 2006 in Freetown, Sierra Leone. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
The procedure is dangerous and has no health benefits, with some girls bleeding to death or dying from infections.
Ex-female genital mutilation (FGM) cutter Monika Cheptilak, who stopped practicing after the country set anti-FGM law in 2010, shows a homemade tool from a nail used for FGM, during the meeting of anti-FGM women group in Alakas village. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP) (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
It can cause lifelong painful conditions such as problems urinating, cysts, infections and fatal childbirth complications, according to the United Nations.
Ex-female genital mutilation (FGM) cutter Monika Cheptilak, who stopped practicing after the country set anti-FGM law in 2010, shows a homemade tool from a nail used for FGM, during the meeting of anti-FGM women group in Alakas village. (Photo by Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP) (Photo by YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
12-year-old Adamsay Sesay, 13-year-old Salamatu Jalloh, and seventeen-year-old Kadiatu Bangura died in Sierra Leone’s North West province in January.
Women protesting during the International Day against female genital mutilation. (Photo by Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Although the UN passed a resolution to ban FGM in 2012, the practice is still common and not banned in Sierra Leone.
This is because FGM is mandatory to enter an all-women secret society, called Bondo, which is seen as a rite of passage for all girls in Sierra Leone.
Secret Bondo society members are led by the Black Devil as they begin their procession across the field of Songo village in order to perform/(Photo by LYNN ROSSI / AFP) (Photo credit should read LYNN ROSSI/AFP via Getty Images)
Bondo women’s secret society dance during a performance in Kroo Bay, Freetown. (Photo by LYNN ROSSI / AFP) (Photo credit should read LYNN ROSSI/AFP via Getty Images)
83% of women in Sierra Leone had undergone FGM, according to a national survey in 2019.
Kadiatu Kalloko, 60, poses in her farm on March 4, 2018 in the village of Pakari, near Makeni in Sierre Leone. (Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP)(Photo credit should read ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP via Getty Images)
Police have since detained the girls’ parents and those who cut them and launched an investigation.
