It's Sunday, 23 June 2013. As a young man named Cissé walks past some bushes in the village of Tiénigbé, situated at 95 km northwest of Séguéla, he is alerted by screams. He could not imagine that he was about to witness a female genital mutilation (FGM) ceremony involving several girls from his village. As soon as he returned home, Cissé went directly to the president of the youth association to report what he had just witnessed. The youth president in turn went to inform the chief of the village. Reflecting over what he had just heard, the chief recalled that some time ago, the administrative authorities had warned against the harmful effects of FGM, after they themselves had been sensitised by personnel of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) on the importance of respecting human rights and the damage caused to women and girls by FGM. So, Chief Digbé, supported by the youths, alerted the Commander of the Gendarmerie Brigade.



The two female FGM practitioners who were involved in the ceremony quickly understood the seriousness of what they had done. For while getting ready to get into a minibus, they were stopped by a group of youths who thought they wanted to escape. They were then arrested and handed over to the Gendarmerie.



The gendarmes who visited the place where the excisions were carried out, found several instruments which had been used in the ceremony, which they seized and kept as evidence. When questioned by the gendarmes, the FGM practioners admitted mutilating 64 girls, one 40-year-old woman and another aged 24. They later appeared in court and were found guilty, sentenced to one year imprisonment and fined 360,000 FCFA (approximately $700).



However, their imprisonment did not please everyone in the village. There were those who said the village chief was a traitor and for a period of time, there was tension in the village.



In an effort to defuse the tension and establish social cohesion and peace in the village, the deputy prefect of Kongasso, the local capital, invited UNOCI to a meeting on 26 July 2013 in which traditional chiefs, religious leaders and villagers participated. The UN Mission team seized the opportunity to sensitise the population on the harmful effects of FGM on women and girls. The UNOCI delegation also welcomed the actions of the village chief in denouncing the practice. A female UN police officer, who is the gender focal point for the Wôrôdougou and Béré regions, showed participants disturbing images of the consequences of FGM and early marriage.



Congratulating Chief Digbé for his action, the deputy prefect reaffirmed in front of everyone that the chief was his legal representative. He, therefore, had a duty to protect the population by denouncing criminal acts which could endanger people's lives. « The chief was simply doing his job of protecting the population, » said the deputy prefect.



The representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) urged women in the village who practice FGM in order to make money, to organise a cooperative which will fund income-generating projects.



At the end of the meeting, people said that they had understood UNOCI's message and promised to renounce FGM. This provided great relief to the women and girls in Tienigbe,who had not yet been subjected to FGM and who lived in fear of it happening one day.