Nigeria: Whether Yoruba and Ibo cleansing rituals for women in their thirties include circumcision in the states of Ogun, Niger, Anambra, and Adamawa; whether women who have been accused of killing a family member through witchcraft would be circumcised during a cleansing ritual (2012-April 2013)

1. Yoruba and Ibo Cleansing Rituals and Circumcision

In a telephone interview with the Research Directorate, a representative of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), a Nigerian human rights organization founded in 1989 (University of Minnesota n.d.), stated that, within ethnic groups, cultural practices vary (25 Apr. 2013). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a medical doctor who is also a female genital mutilation (FGM) and public health specialist in the UK, who also contacted sources in Nigeria regarding this issue, similarly indicated that rituals and beliefs differ depending on tribes and families and added that "cleansing rituals mean different things to different communities or families" (Doctor 26 Apr. 2013). She also said that cleansing rituals do occur, especially in rural areas (ibid.). In a telephone interview with the Research Directorate, a representative of the Centre for Women Studies and Intervention (CWSI), an Abuja-based women's rights NGO founded in 1999 and "led by nuns" (Global Fund for Women n.d.), who has worked in Yoruba and Ibo dominated areas, indicated that women undergo cleansing "rites" not cleansing "rituals" (24 Apr. 2013). She said that, for women, cleansing rites are rites that women must pass through before marriage (CWSI 24 Apr. 2013).

The representative of the CWSI indicated that, depending on the area and the cultural practices, cleansing rites can include circumcision (ibid.). She also stated that some people have stopped the practice of circumcision due to the "hazards," but others still practice it due to their cultural beliefs (ibid.). In correspondence with the Research Directorate, a principal legal officer with the Office of the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Nigeria, speaking based on his personal "limited research" rather than the official position of the NHRC, stated that it is "extremely rare" for circumcision to be part of cleansing rituals (Principal Legal Officer 26 Apr. 2013). However, he was aware of a case in Ebonyi state, which is primarily Ibo, in which a woman was circumcised during a cleansing ritual as a "rite of passage into womanhood" (ibid.).

Sources indicate that the Yoruba and Ibo in some areas practice circumcision (US 19 Apr. 2013, 52; CDHR 24 Apr. 2013; CWSI 24 Apr. 2013). According to sources, circumcision is usually practiced to prevent promiscuous behaviour (ibid.; CDHR 25 Apr. 2013). The CWSI representative said that there is a belief among some people that women who are not circumcised will not be able to have children and that circumcision is also considered to be a celebration of a young girl (ibid.). Sources indicate that circumcision is practiced by the Yoruba and Ibo at the following times in a girl or woman's life:

at infancy (ibid.; CWSI 24 Apr. 2013), such as a few weeks to a month old (ibid.);

upon marriage, when she is ready to go to her husband's house (ibid.; CDHR 25 Apr. 2013);

at the same time of other girls in the area who are getting married (CWSI 24 Apr. 2013);

seven to eight months into pregnancy (ibid.).

The US Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012 states that girls and women in Nigeria, underwent female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) at different ages, varying from "the first week of life until after a woman delivered her first child," but added that most of them were circumcised before they turned one year old (US 19 Apr. 2013, 52). According to the Country Reports 2012, this practice was "most prevalent" among the Yoruba and Ibo people in southern Nigeria (ibid.).

On 7 December 2010, Modern Ghana, an online Ghanaian news website (Modern Ghana n.d.), reported that FGM is still practised in some parts of Nigeria and that in "some instances an adult female who probably escaped FGM during childhood would be forced to be circumcised before her marriage." The CDHR representative said that in some areas in the states of "Imo (Ibo), Cross River, Akwa Ibom, where culturally there are elaborate rituals (rites of passage) where girls are circumcised shortly before marriage…rituals for women can entail circumcision for women who are up to thirty years old" who are about to get married (CDHR 24 Apr. 2013; ibid. 25 Apr. 2013). The CDHR representative stated her view that "circumcision is never done for married women or widows" (ibid. 24 Apr. 2013). However, without specifying her ethnic background or state, the London Evening Standard newspaper reports on a Nigerian woman who was forcibly circumcised at the age of 40 because she was married but was unable to conceive (8 Mar. 2013). The CWSI representative said that women can be circumcised after they have been married for several years (CWSI 24 Apr. 2013). However, she said that women would not be circumcised once they are over 30 years of age since it is usually "young" women that undergo the practice (ibid.).

According to the CWSI representative, if the woman leaves her family without having been circumcised and then returns, she could be circumcised through a traditional rite upon return, although she stated her opinion that "circumcision is not celebrated" for women in their thirties (CWSI 24 Apr. 2013). The CWSI representative stated that if a woman "offended people" before leaving the area and left behind "cultural issues," she may need to undergo a cleansing rite or blessing intended to reintegrate her community (ibid.). Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

2. Accusations of Witchcraft

Information on whether women who have been accused of killing a family member through witchcraft would be circumcised during a cleansing ritual could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response. However, the following information might be useful.

The CDHR representative stated that "witch branding" takes place when a woman is blamed for a negative incident that occurred in the community and labelled a witch (25 Apr. 2013).

The CWSI representative indicated that if a woman has been accused of witchcraft, she may have to carry out "traditional rites," but this depends on the area and cultural beliefs (CWSI 24 Apr. 2013). She indicated that one such traditional rite could be giving the community gifts like gold (ibid.).

The CDHR representative said that a woman accused of witchcraft could be killed by "close relations" or "kinsmen" (CDHR 25 Apr. 2013). She added that this practice is "rampant" in some states, such as Akwa Ibom, Cross River, but is also practiced in other states as well (ibid.). The Director of Widows for Peace through Democracy (WPD), a UK-based advocacy organization for widows in developing countries (n.d.), without specifying ethnic groups, stated that:

WPD is well aware … that women, especially older widowed women, may, in some ethnic groups, particularly in rural areas, be accused of being witches where unexplained deaths occur, (for example, in context of HIV and AIDS), unprecedented natural disasters happen, or harvests inexplicably fail. Expulsion from the village and the community; exclusion or forced seclusion; in extreme cases death by stoning might be carried out. (WPD 25 Apr. 2013)

Further information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within the time constraints of this Response.

3. Widow Rituals

The Director of the WPD said that ritual cleansing rites could include "sexual relations with nominated male relatives of the dead husband, such as a brother or a cousin" (25 Apr. 2013). The UK Doctor stated that in some cases, there is the practice of "bestowing" the widows to their dead husband's brother, and added that some widows have to shave their hair or drink their dead husband's "body fluid" to prove their innocence (26 Apr. 2013). The CDHR representative stated that widows in some areas of Nigeria,

such as Ibo (Anambra state) are sometimes subjected to ritual cruel treatment (widowhood rite[s]) such as drinking water used in washing the corpse of their husbands, [and] early morning yelling (crying) while walking around the village for some days. (CDHR 24 Apr. 2013)

For more information on the ritual whereby a widow drinks the water used to clean her husband's corpse, see Response to Information Request NGA104217.

Sources indicate that widow rituals do not include circumcision (WPD 25 Apr. 2013; CDHR 24 Apr. 2013).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Centre for Women Studies and Intervention (CWSI). 24 April 2013. Telephone interview with a representative.

Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR). 25 April 2013. Telephone interview with a representative.

_____. 24 April 2013. Correspondence from a representative to the Research Directorate.

Doctor, UK. 26 April 2013. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

Global Fund for Women. N.d. "Centre for Women Studies and Intervention." [Accessed 26 Apr. 2013]

London Evening Standard. 8 March 2013. Rosamund Urwin. "'Girls Born Here Can Say No to Being Cut - So Families Are Doing it to Them as Babies'; On International Women's Day, Rosamund Urwin Meets Comfort Momoh - the Woman Fighting Female Genital Mutilation in London." [Accessed 29 Apr. 2013]

Modern Ghana. 7 December 2010. Emmanuel Ajibulu. "Nigerian Govt. Should Act, Female Genital Mutilation Must Be Abolished." [Accessed 25 Apr. 2013]

_____. N.d. "About Us." [Accessed 26 Apr. 2013]

Principle Legal Officer, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). 26 April 2013. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.

United States (US). 19 April 2013. Department of State. "Nigeria." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012. [Accessed 25 Apr. 2013]

University of Minnesota. N.d. Human Rights Library. "The Status of Human Rights Organizations in Sub-saharan Africa Nigeria." [Accessed 28 Apr. 2013]

Widows for Peace through Democracy (WPD). 25 April 2013. Correspondence from the Director to the Research Directorate.

_____. N.d. "Our Vision." [Accessed 26 Apr. 2013]

Additional Sources Consulted

Oral sources: Attempts to contact the following individuals and organizations were unsuccessful with the time constraints of this Response: Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University; Associate Professor of Anthropology, Georgetown University; Campaign Against Female Genital Mutilation; Chair of Anthropology, University of Washington; Deputy Woman Editor at Vanguard Media Limited; Director of the Institute of African Studies, Carleton University; Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of Washington; Human Rights and Justice Group International; Independent Consultant for Women's Human Rights; Lawyer and sexual and reproductive rights activist; Marie Stopes International; Nigeria - Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development; Oyo State Ministry of Health; Professor of Anthropology at Warren Wilson College; Senior Lecturer whose research includes sex and gender issues at the Department of Counsellor Education, Senior Lecturer in African Studies, University of Birmingham; University of Ilorin; Senior Research Fellow, University of Nigeria; Women's Consortium of Nigeria; Women's Rights Watch Nigeria. An Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Kansas could not provide information for this Response.

Internet sites, including: Adamawa State - Ministry of Women Affairs; ecoi.net; End FGM European Campaign; Factiva; Niger State; Nigeria Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development; Ogun State Ministry of Women Affairs; Toward a Worldwide Ban on Female Genital Mutilation by the UN.