Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. Internationally, human rights bodies categorize this practice as a severe violation of the fundamental rights of women and girls. These rights include the right to physical integrity, the right to health, and the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Health consequences range from severe immediate hemorrhaging and shock to chronic infections, psychological trauma, and obstetric complications during childbirth.
Numerous international treaties prohibit FGM by obligating signatory nations to protect women and children. Key global instruments include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Regionally, the Maputo Protocol—the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa—explicitly calls for the prohibition and condemnation of FGM in all its forms.
At the federal level in Nigeria, the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act of 2015 provides a robust legal framework against harmful traditional practices. Section 15 of the VAPP Act explicitly prohibits FGM, making it a criminal offense punishable by law. The legislation penalizes not only the person who performs the cutting but also anyone who incites, aids, supports, or attempts to carry out the act. Despite its passage at the federal level, the VAPP Act originally applied only to the Federal Capital Territory until individual states domesticated it.
Nigeria operates a federal system where criminal laws often require state-level domestication to be fully enforceable across the federation. Many states have enacted their own anti-FGM laws, but enforcement remains weak due to cultural normalization, community secrecy, and a lack of resources for law enforcement agencies. Victims and families rarely report practitioners because the practice is deeply entrenched in local traditions and fear of social ostracization.
Medicalization occurs when health workers perform FGM under the false belief that it is safer when done in a clinical setting with sterile tools. Nigerian law, medical ethics codes, and international guidelines strictly forbid healthcare professionals from performing FGM. Any nurse, midwife, or doctor who participates in FGM faces severe professional consequences, including immediate license revocation by regulatory bodies like the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN), alongside criminal prosecution.
Nurses often face ethical tension between maintaining patient confidentiality and protecting a child from imminent harm. When a healthcare provider suspects a child is scheduled for FGM, patient confidentiality laws do not shield perpetrators of child abuse. Nurses have a professional and legal duty to report impending or completed cases of FGM to child protection agencies or law enforcement, prioritizing the safety and welfare of the minor above traditional family loyalties.
Beyond enforcing laws, community health nurses play a vital role in preventing FGM through education and grassroots advocacy. Nurses engage community leaders, traditional birth attendants, and youth groups to debunk myths surrounding female genitalia and highlight the legal penalties of the practice. Providing alternative economic support or retraining opportunities for traditional practitioners helps eradicate the custom by addressing its socioeconomic drivers.