In the sprawling refugee camps along the Chad-Sudan border, a disturbing trend is emerging behind closed tent flaps. Women’s rights groups are sounding the alarm over high rates of female genital mutilation (FGM) being practiced in secret among the Sudanese refugee population, the majority of whom have fled ongoing civil war and violence in their homeland.
Although FGM is legally banned in both Chad and Sudan, aid workers report the practice remains widespread, especially among communities displaced by conflict. Cultural beliefs and traditions are often magnified and clung to more tightly during times of upheaval.
Culture of Secrecy Enables Continuation of FGM
On a recent visit to the Adré refugee camp mere kilometers from the Sudanese border, a Guardian reporter encountered three girls—aged 9, 7 and 3—being prepared by their family for cutting. Traditional henna tattoos adorned the children’s feet and fingers, a “celebration” of their impending procedure.
A social worker confided that these cuttings take place covertly, often with crude tools and no medical oversight, to avoid running afoul of Chadian law. Married women are also being subjected to a post-childbirth mutilation known as “adal.”
Whole communities become more violent [during wars] and little girls are often the first victims.
Houida Ibrahim, Head of Mercy Shadows NGO
Staggering Rates of Cutting
While FGM rates hover around 34% for Chadian women aged 14-49 according to UNICEF, the numbers are markedly higher—87%—among their Sudanese counterparts. The influx of refugees fleeing violence in Darfur and other Sudanese regions since war broke out in April 2023 has aid groups scrambling to protect at-risk girls and women.
Prior to Sudan criminalizing FGM in 2020, refugees would freely cross back over the border to have their daughters cut before returning to the relative safety of the camps. Now the practice has merely been pushed underground.
Confronting Deeply Held Beliefs
Entrenched cultural views make curbing FGM an uphill battle. Many communities see cutting as an essential rite of passage for girls, a perspective not easily dislodged even in the face of legal consequences.
One aid worker, speaking on condition of anonymity, linked the prevalence of FGM to a broader normalization of violence against women and girls in Sudanese society—a troubling pattern now finding fertile ground in the under-resourced confines of Chad’s refugee settlements.
I believe on one level that when mothers support cutting their children it is in part a transferring of the trauma and violence that they went through in Sudan.
Anonymous aid worker
A Call to Action
Mercy Shadows and other women’s rights organizations are pleading for increased funding, resources and education to confront FGM in the camps head-on. Key initiatives include:
- Expanded access to proper medical care and counseling for those impacted by cutting
- Safe spaces and protection for girls at risk of FGM
- Culturally sensitive outreach to shift mindsets and break the cycle of intergenerational trauma
With the number of Sudanese refugees in Chad expected to keep climbing as fighting rages on, there is no time to lose. Only a concerted, compassionate effort can hope to turn the tide on this harrowing trend and safeguard the futures of a generation of displaced women and girls.
