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Certain Traditional Practices May Infringe on Women's Rights

   May also pose health hazards

   Joana Mantey | Accra,Ghana 30 December 2009

   A  Ghanaian  housewife  who  had  a  baby  while living in a developed
   country says she was surprised when health officials asked how she was
   planning to feed her baby.
   For  the Ghanaian woman, there's only one way to feed an infant - with
   breast milk.
   Elizabeth  Wriglet a senior nursing officer in Accra says the practice
   is beneficial to both mothers and babies.
   "It  helps to establish a bond between the mother and child, it boosts
   the  child's immunity and it is easily accessible and affordable," she
   explains.
   Science  has  also  shown that children who are fed on strictly breast
   milk  for  the  first  six  months  of  their lives are healthier than
   children  who  are  also fed water and food.  That's because water and
   food can be contaminated, leading to diarrhea and other illnesses.

Mantey

   Doctor Dennis Bortey

   So  important  are  the  protective  enzymes  in breast milk that even
   mothers   with   HIV  are  encouraged  to  breastfeed  their  children
   exclusively for the first six months of life.
   Wriglet says the new mother needs her family's support.
   But  childbirth  may  be  extremely painful for women who follow other
   traditions,  including  one called "dry sex."   It involves the use of
   herbs for drying out the vagina.
   Dennis  Bortey  a  medical  officer at a private clinic in Accra says,
   people  wrongly believe that the practice helps heighten male pleasure
   during intercourse.
   According  to Borety the practice may cause inflammation in the female
   organ.  The  concoctions may also affect the cervix, which can lead to
   other complications.
   Bortey  said  women  who  use the herbal preparations may also develop
   cancer.
   A  second  harmful  tradition  for women is female circumcision, often
   referred to as female genital mutilation, or FGM.
   The  procedure  involves  the  removal  of  part of a girl's genitalia
   largely  for cultural reasons, like reducing her sex drive in order to
   prevent  promiscuity. The practice is common among women in about half
   of African countries.
   In Ghana, FGM is mostly practiced in the north, despite a ten-year-old
   law banning it.
   He  said FGM causes immediate and long-term health problems for women.
   Bortey  said  the procedure is often done by untrained personnel using
   crude instruments that may not be sterilized.
   As a result, women may suffer infection, including tetanus.
   Any physical damage to the birth canal caused by FGM can later lead to
   complications during birth, including fistula, a tear in the tissue of
   the  cervix,  bladder or rectum through which urine or feces can leak.
   Until  it's  repaired,  the condition can lead to infection and social
   ostracism.

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