By Ragan M. Conteh

The Amazonian Initiative Movement (AIM-SL) on 17–18 September 2025 trained Paramount Chiefs, Chiefdom Speakers, traditional leaders, Soweis, and chiefdom youth leaders in Konike Fulawusu Chiefdom, Tonkolili District. The training, sponsored by Cot World, took place in Mamanso Sanka town and aimed to strengthen community efforts to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and build a safer future for women and girls.

Grassroots activist and Executive Director of AIM-SL, Madam Rugiatu Neneh Turay Koroma, underscored how FGM contributes to the continued marginalization of women and girls, particularly in rural Sierra Leone. She called for a cultural shift away from harmful traditions toward a society that respects and uplifts women.

“FGM has both short- and long-term effects on women and girls,” Madam Turay said. “As an organisation, we are working with all stakeholders, including traditional leaders and soweis, to see the need to abandon this practice, which threatens the safety, dignity, and future of our women and girls,” she added.

She emphasized that the suffering of many women is tied to a lack of education, compounded by harmful practices like FGM and early initiation into the Bondo society. “Politicians should prioritise education rather than sponsoring a practice that has no health, economic, or social benefits for women,” she stated.

Madam Turay and other campaigners stressed that legislative action is critical. The current Child Rights Bill before Parliament has failed to explicitly criminalize FGM. Without a clear ban, thousands of girls remain unprotected from one of the gravest violations of their rights. Campaigners are urging President Julius Maada Bio to reject the bill in its current form and send it back to Parliament with instructions to include a total ban on FGM. Anything less that would be a betrayal of Sierra Leone’s daughters.

FGM has devastating impacts on the bodies and lives of girls. The procedure often causes extreme pain, heavy bleeding, and infection. Long-term consequences include chronic pelvic pain, recurrent urinary and reproductive tract infections, complications in childbirth, and in some cases, death. Survivors also suffer lasting psychological trauma and sexual health issues, including reduced sexual function and difficulty experiencing intimacy. For daughters subjected to FGM, their very sense of safety and dignity is stolen.

Paramount Chief of Konike Fulawusu Chiefdom, PC Bai Kafarie Sumbali II, welcomed the training and praised AIM-SL for raising awareness. He stressed the importance of legislation to protect women and girls, warning that the government would prosecute anyone who violates laws against harmful practices.

“The FGM movement is not working to ban Bondo as a cultural society. The government frowns at FGM because it demeans the dignity of women,” the Paramount Chief stated. He urged his people to take the messages from the training seriously and apply them in their daily lives.

The fight against FGM is not about erasing culture but about protecting the health, rights, and dignity of women and girls. Sierra Leone has signed international treaties such as CEDAW, CRC, and the Maputo Protocol, all of which require the government to eliminate harmful traditional practices. Now is the moment to act. Passing a law that explicitly bans FGM would be a decisive step toward fulfilling those obligations and ensuring that no girl is left behind.

Participants pledged to serve as ambassadors to ensure that what they trained replicated to their siblings as well as the communities.