Chestermere-Strathmore MLA talks FGM a year after initial proclamation
By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter
Feb. 6 marked the first anniversary of the Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Alberta, since its proclamation by Chestermere – Strathmore MLA Leela Aheer in 2021.
Alberta was the first province in Canada to make the proclamation and take an active stance against the practice. It was soon followed suit by the rest of Canada.
“While the practice does not actually happen in the country of Canada as far as we know, there are situations where girls are being sent to where these practices are happening in order to follow through with cultural practices that have happened for thousands of years,” said Aheer. “It’s also about making sure that we understand that when a girl’s clitoris and labia are cut or sewn together, there are massive consequences to her health and well-being.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), FGM involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia, or other injury to female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
FGM is recognized internationally as a human rights violation and is stated by the WHO to constitute an extreme form of discrimination against women and girls.
“This is an opportunity for us, it’s not about pointing fingers, it’s about educating and helping to understand that this is a practice that does nothing to help a girl’s health and well-being,” said Aheer. “Because we live in a culture and in a country where we have the opportunity to help educate about the situation and hopefully change the course, even if we change the outcome to one little girl, it’s worth it.”
Through her work to raise awareness and address FGM, Aheer said she has spoken at length with women and girls who have been affected by the practice and their experiences going through it.
“They’re just beautiful and resilient and gorgeous and amazing and strong and are dealing with things that a lot of us don’t ever have to think about,” said Aheer.
The WHO has also published a list of symptoms that may afflict women and girls who have undergone FGM procedures. Further, there are no health benefits to having any such procedure done.
Aheer added awareness begins with discussion to reduce and eliminate stigma behind talking about FGM and it shouldn’t stop there.
“The more that you have a discussion around it and the more you’re willing to talk about it, the less stigma there is,” said Aheer. “You start digging into the multiple spaces where we can have discussions, not just on female genital mutilation, but on many aspects of equity for women and women’s health care.”
As examples, Aheer mentioned specifically the lack of ability for rural areas to maintain and contain rape kits to aid those who have been sexually assaulted.