Amid Alleged Death Threat and Intimidation
Monrovia, Liberia – Anti-Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Campaigner Lammie M. Jabateh has been reported missing following threats to his life and intimidation from family members and traditional authorities in Bella Town, Suakoko, Bong County.
Between 2019 and 2022, activist Jabateh reportedly faced intimidation from traditional elders and relatives when he refused to allow his younger sister to be brought to the Sande Bush for initiation and genital mutilation.
Before going missing, Jabateh expressed alarm to journalists in Liberia that he was no longer safe there and that his life was in danger.
According to him, there are no health benefits for girls and women who undergo the practice; instead, it increases the chance of neonatal fatalities, complications during childbirth, cysts, infections, and severe bleeding and urination issues.
The FGM activist claimed that FGM is acknowledged globally as a violation of women’s and girls’ human rights.
He noted that the custom of removing the external genitalia entirely or partially is an important rite of passage, and he regretted that it frequently results in health issues and can even be lethal.
He claimed that he was harassed every day by traditional leaders of the town and even members of his own family who supported his anti-FGM campaign.
The feminist against female genital mutilation denounces the coercive practices of genital mutilation, which he describes as demonic and stigmatized.
He claimed that he was harassed every day by traditional leaders of the town and even members of his own family who supported his anti-FGM campaign.
The feminist against female genital mutilation denounces the coercive practices of genital mutilation, which he describes as demonic and stigmatized.
Jabateh continued that, the traditional authorities and some town residents severely beat him and asked that he leave the town on the grounds that he is teaching the youth. This came after multiple attempts to kill him.
“I used to have quiet conversations with kids on a regular basis about the risk this poses to them going forward. Many kids started to dismiss the idea of heading into the bush after hearing me speak.
The traditional leaders decided to hunt me down and beat me multiple times because they believed I was going too far. Even though I’m only in Monrovia for now, they stated they would find a way to reach me using conventional methods, so I’m still not safe.”
It is recorded that the National Council of Chiefs and Elders of Liberia (NACCEL) issued a historic proclamation on February 6, 2023, outlawing female genital mutilation (FGM) in the country. The prohibition was applauded by people worldwide.
One of the three nations in West Africa without a law making FGM a crime is Liberia. An executive order prohibiting FGM on girls under the age of eighteen was signed by President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in 2018, but it lapsed in February 2019.
The leader of Liberia’s Traditional Council, Chief Zanzan Karwor, declared a three-year ban on FGM in February 2022.
The Liberian Parliament is now considering two anti-FGM legislation that aim to abolish the practice forever.
The “Act Prohibiting Female Genital Mutilation of 2022” is the name of the FGM bill that is currently before the national assembly. If it is passed into law, it may grant the long-standing demands of activists for the country of Liberia to forbid FGM.
