The video shows four little girls, one in tears, in what is referred to as a “camp for genital mutilation" in Conakry. Our Observer says that this is the first time a video of one of these places has emerged. While genital mutilation is banned in Guinea, it is still widely practiced. In the wake of the video’s release, activists, including our Observer, have mobilised and authorities have responded to the pressure by opening an investigation into the matter. Authorities have made one arrest and are still searching for other suspects.
The video, which lasts just under a minute, shows four little girls sitting on the ground, in a row. One of them is crying, seemingly writhing in pain. There are also two adult women present – one of them elderly. Text in French appears on the screen reading “My mother worked hard this morning”. The person filming the video says practically the same phrase in Soussou at the start of the video – though she says “today” instead of “this morning”.
“Don’t cry, sit on the ground, be good,” the woman in black says in Mandinka to the little girl who is crying.
“Look, the littlest girl isn’t crying, it is the oldest who is crying and she is also trying to cry as loud as possible,” says the woman in red to the same little girl, this time speaking Fula.
We are only publishing an excerpt of the video. We’ve blurred the faces of the children and the two women.
“What gall to publish that”
The video was posted on TikTok the week of July 17. Negative comments immediately flooded the post and the entire account was quickly deleted. However, at least two women made copies of the video.
Fafoune Konaté, who runs the TikTok account “Mme Diakité”, who has a lot of followers in Guinea, republished an excerpt of the video on July 19, featuring her commentary facing the camera.
When contacted by our team, she replied:
The feeling that I had watching it… it was so strong. This little girl who was crying… I didn’t think that I would see that in the 21st century, I thought that mindsets were starting to shift. What gall to publish that.
I underwent genital mutilation myself and it is something that you live with until you die. I was immediately traumatised seeing that.
A Guinean who lives in France – and wanted to stay anonymous – also saved an excerpt of the video, which she published on Snapchat.
“This brought back horrible memories,” she said. “I published this video in a group for young mothers and a lot of people reacted. They insulted me and some people said that these women have the right to do what they want."
“There’s no doubt that this video was filmed in a camp for genital mutilation”
Kadiatou Konaté is the president of the Club of Young Women Leaders in Guinea, an organisation that works to prevent genital mutilation and forced marriage.
There’s no doubt that this video was filmed in a camp for genital mutilation, even if we can’t say for certain that it was filmed right after a mutilation.
The girls are dressed in a way common for these camps. The colors might vary, but the style is the same — tops fastened at the back, then pagnes and scarves tied in their hair. Moreover, the way that the girls are all lined up on the floor is common, too – in these camps, all the girls undergo the process together.
Often, these camps are held during vacation at the home of a woman who will carry out the mutilation. She might have a dozen children there and they might stay up to a month. The woman feeds them and “instructs” them in traditional values like keeping your mouth shut and only speaking when you are given authorisation. However, sometimes there are lessons on good values for human relationships.
Read moreThe fight to end female genital mutilation in Guinea during summer break
People and organisations who had seen the video contacted Guinea's Office for the Protection of Gender, Children and Morals (Oprogem).
Authorities arrested one person suspected of sharing the video in the town of Kindia. An investigation into the matter is ongoing, Dadou Camara, the prosecutor at the Kindia lower court, told our team.
“According to the statement made by the person arrested, the video was filmed in Conakry,” he said. “We are keeping the person in custody because we have not yet located the women responsible for carrying out the mutilations. This video is a first, it is shocking, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
"Parents must understand that you can teach children traditional values without genital mutilation”
Genital mutilation has been banned in Guinea since 2008 but instances of the practice have not decreased, according to NGO Plan international. More than 97% of women have undergone this practice, according to the NGO. Kadiatou Konaté, of the Club of Young Women Leaders, explains:
We mobilised because we want to at least prevent the people who make these kinds of videos from just uploading them online. The justice system has sentenced people in the past for carrying out mutilations but, often, people are given conditional sentences – often because the accused are elderly. But from our point of view, this is actually because there is still too much tolerance.
There are several reasons why genital mutilation is carried out. That could be for cultural reasons or tradition – some people say that their grandparents did it, people think they should do it. There could be economic reasons because it is a source of revenue for the people who carry it out. It can be related to ideas of dignity and honour. It’s also related to the desire of a patriarchal society to control the sexuality of a growing girl.
Some people think that it will limit the risk of teen pregnancies. Some people think that husbands don’t like women who aren’t mutilated… People always find a way to justify their behaviour.
Parents must understand that you can teach children traditional values without genital mutilation, because mutilation is abhorrent.
I do think that the number of genital mutilations is decreasing. It seems like the people who are doing it are hiding it and aren’t doing it in the open. More and more, people are realising that this practice can’t continue.
Thank you to the Mandinka and Fula teams at RFI for translating the video.
