The international outrage over the death of five girls in Sierra Leone after being circumcised in January 2024, pales in the shadow when compared to public sentiments on the subject, at least on social media. 

Sierra Leone’s secretive, powerful, women-only Bondo Society which conducts female circumcision as part of its initiation rituals has issued a rare statement dismissing any connection between the death of the girls and their practices; after eight suspects were arrested and put on trial for manslaughter. 

Despite the swift condemnation of the deaths by President Dr Julius Maada Bio amidst renewed calls for a ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Sierra Leone, the practice which is deeply rooted in cultural traditions appears to be broadly accepted.

There is no law banning FGM in Sierra Leone and eight out of every 10 girls/women in the country aged between 15 and 49 have been circumcised, data from the 2019 Demographic Health Survey shows.

Here are some highlights after FactSpace West Africa processed collected data on the subject from social media analytics tools, Brandwatch and CrowdTangle, covering the period from June 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024.

  • The data reviewed included 24,954 interactions (shares, comments, reactions) from 168 posts on Facebook and 1,324 mentions from 449 unique authors on X (formerly Twitter) within the period under review. The relatively low engagements on social media relating to FGM could partly be explained by the 40.41% internet penetration rate (i.e. the percentage of the total population that uses the internet) in Sierra Leone coupled with the high cost of mobile data.

 

  • Anti-FGM advocacy is largely restricted to the work of foreign embassies, and local and international NGOs, with little or no organic opposition by netizens in Sierra Leone. The campaigns are mostly tied to commemorative day celebrations which have low grassroots appeal among Sierra Leoneans on social media.

 

  • Pro-FGM advocates including the Bondo Society have framed the debate along cultural lines and presented it as a clash of values – Western and Sierra Leonean values / “us” vs “them”.

 

  • US-based Fuambai Sia Nyako Ahmadu, who is also the spokeswoman for the National Sowei Councils (Bondo Society) and former Sierra Leone minister of Social Welfare, Dr Sylvia Olayinka Blyden are the two prominent pro-FGM voices on Facebook.

Renewed calls for FGM ban

In Sierra Leone, female circumcision is associated with the Bondo initiation, a two to three-week rite of passage into womanhood, in which girls or young women also get their external genitalia, notably the clitoris, totally or partially removed in the “Bondo bush”. 

Locally, FGM is known as “bondo” or “Bundu” by the Temne people and “Sande” in the Mende ethnicity, and it is conducted by the “Soweis” (Bondo elders and excisors).  

In January 2024, it emerged that five girls had died due to alleged complications after being circumcised in the northern district of Kambia and Port Loko, during initiation rites. 

The Bondo Society came under intense scrutiny, resulting in renewed calls for the total ban of FGM, which is a centuries-old ritual in Sierra Leone.

However, a rare statement from the National Sowei Councils (NSC), the mouthpiece of the Bondo secret society has dismissed any attempts to link the deaths of the girls to being circumcised and suggested their post-mortems have been “fabricated”. 

So far, eight suspects have been arrested on charges of manslaughter and are being prosecuted, with the police insistent that the victims died due to complications from FGM.

The Forum Against Harmful Practices (FAHP) which is made up of 130 women’s rights organisations from 34 countries around the world has co-signed an open letter calling on the Government of Sierra Leone to criminalise FGM. 

Figure 1: X post by an international advocacy organisation about FGM-linked deaths
Figure 2: X post by an international advocacy organisation about FGM-linked deaths

Some local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Diplomatic Missions and International Non-Governmental Organisations have also joined in on calls to end FGM in Sierra Leone (here & here). 

The Bondo-linked deaths have since received wide international media coverage including by CNN, Guardian UK and DW.   

Social media analysis

Using CrowdTangle and BrandWatch, FactSpace West Africa sought to map out the actors driving the FGM conversations on social media and the narratives that are emerging regarding this contentious subject.

The highest level of interaction on X on matters relating to FGM over the reporting period was recorded on February 6, 2024, as displayed on the volume of mentions graph from BrandWatch. 

Figure 3: Details of volume of mentions on FGM discourse as collected by Brandwatch
Figure 4: Graph showing online activity relative to FGM discourse between June 2023 and June 2024 (Brandwatch)

The collected data from Brandwatch shows FGM was mentioned 70 times on X on February 6, 2024, the highest volume of mentions over the period investigated. Further checks showed the online engagements related to the commemoration of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM. 

This saw several anti-FGM activists, Diplomatic Missions and International Non-Governmental Organisations leveraging their reach online to share posts discouraging the practices. (here, here, here, here and here). 

Figure 5: X post by UK in Sierra Leone commemorating the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM
Figure 6: X post by UNFPA Sierra Leone commemorating the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM
Figure 7: X post by an NGO (AGirlAtATime) commemorating the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM
Figure 8: X post by Ireland Embassy in Sierra Leone commemorating the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM

Our investigations show there were very few organic online conversations about FGM among X users in Sierra Leone beyond the sentiments being shared by local and international NGOs and diplomatic missions. 

Figure 9: A rare X post from an FGM survivor

On Crowdtangle, FactSpace West Africa collected 168 individual posts relating to conversations about FGM over the reporting period which have contributed to 24,954 interactions (likes, comments and shares).

Figure 10: A screengrab of Facebook interactions on the subject.

The highest level of interactions on Facebook about FGM was recorded on May 8, 2024, as part of the commemoration of International Women’s Day.

Again, the posts on Facebook were predominantly by local and international NGOs calling for an end to FGM, with not many organic online conversations by netizens in Sierra Leone.

This notwithstanding, FactSpace West Africa investigations found two main Sierra Leonean pro-FGM activists on Facebook, who have consistently derided campaigns to end female circumcision on their timelines.

A former Sierra Leone minister of Social Welfare, Dr Sylvia Olayinka Blyden and Dr Fuambai Sia Nyako Ahmadu, the spokeswoman of the National Sowei Councils (Bondo Society) are the two main pro-FGM voices on Facebook.

“In medicine and under the law, we don’t work on hearsay from notorious criminally minded persons calling themselves anti-FGM activists. No way!” Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, who is a medical doctor stated in an open letter addressed to the President.

While about 5.5% of Sierra Leoneans use X, about 80% of social media users in Sierra Leone are on Facebook, the general low online engagements could partly be explained by issues of access and cost of data.

On Brandwatch, an assessment of the total number of mentions on X broken down by sentiments and emotions showed largely negative sentiments (Figure 11), with the emotions ranging from anger, disgust, fear, joy and sadness.

Figure 11: Graph of sentiments and emotions around the FGM discourse

Emerging narratives

While Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of FGM globally, there has been a gradual decline in the practice with 83% of women and girls aged 15 – 49 reporting having undergone FGM in 2019, compared to 90% in 2013.

The Bondo Society is accusing Western media organisations, including CNN and Guardian UK plus some local NGOs of fabricating negative stories about Bondo to dissuade Sierra Leoneans from going through the initiation rite. 

“In addition to instigating the harassment, defamation and false imprisonment of Soweis in the past, the Guardian UK and their local anti-FGM campaigners exploit the annual occasion of the UN’s Zero Tolerance Day for FGM on February 6 to reinvest new claims of so-called FGM deaths in Sierra Leone,” a statement issued by the spokeswoman of the National Sowei Councils, Dr Fuambai Sia Nyako Ahmadu said. 

Already female MPs have expressed strong opposition to attempts to ban Bondo during an engagement with Dr. Isata Mahoi, the Minister of Gender and Children’s Affairs regarding the proposed Child Rights Bill, 2024.

“Foreigners can’t tell us that Bondo is harmful. We can improve, but I won’t support its elimination,” an MP from the Sierra Leone People’s Party, Emilia Lolloh Tongi stated. 

Rather, there are emerging calls for the banning of female genital mutilation (FGM) for girls younger than 18 years.

There is currently no national legislation in Sierra Leone that expressly criminalises and punishes the practice of FGM. On a local level, in some chiefdoms, paramount chiefs and local practitioners (soweis) have signed a ‘Memoranda of Understanding’ (MOUs) banning FGM for girls under the age of 18.

However, these MOUs are entirely voluntary and have no legal standing.

There are also calls for – “Bondo without blood or bloodless Bondo,”  which involves conducting the initiation ceremony without cutting and that has received significant media coverage.  

It is an alternative initiation ceremony that seeks to encourage the Soweis to eliminate FGM/ cutting and only focus on the rituals that prepare girls for womanhood.

Anti-FGM campaigners who support a total ban say the cutting only serves to benefit the Sowies, who see the tradition as a source of income. Indeed there have been several reports, including a recent one by Modern Democracy that explores why these women are reluctant to lay down the knife, and top among the motivation factors is that it is a source of income for key stakeholders. 

Although Sierra Leone does not have a national law that explicitly prohibits FGM/C, about four separate legislations attempt to protect women and girls, and campaigners have cited them in efforts to protect them against the practice.

Notable is the Child Rights Act of 2007 which criminalises all forms of torture directed to a child. There is also the Domestic Violence Act 2007 which seeks to protect women and girls from domestic violence, harm, or other acts which may endanger their safety, health or wellbeing.

The Offences Against the Person Act 1861 illegalises bodily harm to another person. Then there is the Prevention and Control of HIV and AIDS Act 2007 which criminalises the negligent use of unsafe procedures, leading to the spread of HIV.

Also, there is a reported ongoing review of the Child Rights Act 2007 which is said to be targeted at prohibiting underage initiation, which some campaigners say isn’t far-reaching enough.

Testimony of a FGM victim

“The crude nature of the instruments used and the lack of training of those who conduct the procedure is where the problem lies,” says Rachel Kamanda, who considers herself a victim.

Rachel underwent the initiation around the age of twelve in the southern Bo District. She had no idea the danger she was exposed to, she told Factspace West Africa in a telephone interview. “I was young and I was naïve. I was very excited about it,” she explained.

Unlike many others, Rachel says luckily, she has not experienced any adverse effects. However, she heard complaints from many girls while in school about the problems they encountered as a result of FGM.

Years later, Rachel became an anti-FGM campaigner dedicated to preventing girls from the harmful practice.

“There are many good things happening at the Bondo Bush, but the cutting has overshadowed the whole thing, yet it adds no value to the culture, it only endangers the lives of the initiates,” she said.

A lot of the deaths from FGM have been attributed to excessive bleeding and infection. The long-term implications include constant pain and difficulty having sex, repeated infections, which have been blamed for claims of infertility. Other complications include problems during labour and childbirth, which can be life-threatening for a mother and the baby.

In Sierra Leone, FGM is predominant in the northern region of Karene (93%) and lowest in the Southern region of Bo ( 74%), as shown by data from the 2019 Sierra Leone Demographic and Health Survey. 

Conclusion

Sierra Leone still has one of the highest rates of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in the world despite the practice being recognised internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. 

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), FGM has no health benefits and can lead to serious, long-term complications and even death. 

Considering the major health risks associated with the practice and that 34% of Sierra Leonean women believe female circumcision should not be continued as reported in the 2019 Demographic and Health Survey, it is curious why many social media users are shying away from discussing the subject online. 

 

By: FactSpace West Africa

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