By Grace Q. Bryant
A former health official has left the country after enduring years of threats from her father, a traditional leader within the Poro and Sande society, an organization that practices female genital mutilation (FGM) in Liberia.
Leemu Karmo Tarpeh who is said to be seeking asylum in Canada, detailed her horrifying experience of the Liberian cultural customs that led her to flee for her dear safety out of her homeland, Liberia while still in hiding in the country.
The Liberian citizen worked with the Ministry of Health as part of the Montserrado County Health Team, focusing on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs within health facilities in rural communities and her role included supervising and reporting on WASH compliance to ensure that health centers provided adequate sanitation and hygiene.
Despite her dedication to improving public health, her personal safety was increasingly jeopardized due to her father’s persistence that she undergoes initiation into the Sande society, a traditional exercise females of rural entrenched family backgrounds must be a part of, if that family members are to maintain their name and positions among their peers.
The Sande society, prominent among certain ethnic groups in Liberia, is known to practice Type II FGM as a traditional rite of passage for girls transitioning to womanhood.
In some rural areas, approximately half of girls between the ages of eight and 18 are estimated to undergo this procedure while the ritual is not universal among all Liberian ethnicities, it is deeply ingrained in specific communities, particularly among the Kpelle, Gola, and Kissi people of western Liberia.
Leemu’s father, old man Jackson Sengbeh, a noble figure in the Poro society, held authority to initiate his daughters into the society’s traditions and had always assured that all his daughters would be part of the Sande society
Leemu said all her sisters have been initiated and that intensified the pressure on her over the years and therefore described her years of hiding and subsequent evasion which led to her escape as a fate that landed her in Canada noting, “I managed to evade initiation efforts as a teenager and had been hiding from my father ever since.”
“My father’s dream nearly became a reality when tragedy struck when my aunt passed away and I had to attend the funeral to mourn with the rest of my other relatives with the belief that I would have done it so discreetly but my presence was soon discovered and I vividly recall how I was pursued by a group of men associated with the society,” she narrated in fear.
She explained, “I saw my father with a group of strong men coming directly towards me. I knew I had to run to save my life and then I managed to escape but realized my situation had grown indefensible and that was the incident which served as a breaking point thereby prompting me to seek asylum outside Liberia and into Canada because it was at that point that I knew my life was not safe anymore and that I needed to find a safe place.”
Leemu shed light on the rarely discussed issue of forced initiation and FGM in Liberia, where cultural practices intersect with personal freedom and rights and called on girls who have not consented like herself to resist being forced against their will into practicing FMG or other harmful traditional practices.
FGM remains controversial in Liberia and the procedure, which is illegal in many countries, persists in regions where traditional beliefs are held firmly.
Although Liberia’s legal system has taken steps to curb FGM practices, enforcement is often limited, especially in areas dominated by traditional leadership.
Leemu’s case could set a precedent, as there are few documented instances of women fleeing to seek protection from FGM including their childing like third and fourth generations who are now incline to its dangers.
This Liberian lady’s escape marked both a plea for safety and a call for attention to the silent plight of girls and women facing forced initiation as the questions still lingers about the balance between cultural preservation and human rights as well as its challenges and the global community support to individuals like Leemu, who are at risk due to cultural expectations.
Human rights monitors in Liberia hope that Leemu finds safety and the chance to live without fear while also bringing awareness to the cultural issues affecting many women in her homeland as traditional leaders are not sincere on whether to end FGM practices while the government lacks the political will to ensure that women and girls are protected from such harmful traditional practice.
