yankan gishiri fistula with a report on 78 patients

amir imam yola laure fistula center

murtala muhammad specialist hospital

ISOFS DAKAR 2010

longitudinal cutting into anterior/posterior vagina wall using sharp instrument: knife or razor blade

with patient in lying, sitting or squatting position

3 types◦ superficial cut scarification◦ deep cut -tomy◦ excision of tissue -ectomy

incidence/prevalence not known since only patients with complication of fistula do report

the yankan gishiri is a cultural practice exclusively found in the hausa/fulani population of northern nigeria and southern niger republic

it is mostly restricted to the rural dwellers and virtually absent among those living in towns and cities

it is referred to by different names because of difference in dialect and for the different reasons why it is per-formed

yankan belu yankan beli yankan dankali yankan (an)guriya yankan jini yankan kakanda yankan kare yankan koko yankan tsatsefa yankan tsigai yankan zir-zir yankan zul-zul

yanka = cutting gishiri = salt

linguistically in hausa some things which are related to sexuality are given names which symbolize function or images

salt is necessary in making food more palatable, and as such sexual organs of both sexes are referred to as gishiri

there is a popular saying in hausa, i.e. „gishiri zaman duniya“

gynecologic◦ ba hanya (no road)◦ dyspareunia◦ infertility◦ prolapse◦ boil◦ itching◦ urine retention

obstetric◦ prolonged labor◦ attempt at episiotomy

other◦ ritual scratch of hymen◦ pain: headache, heart ache, abdominal pain

retrospective review of operation records in laure, danbatta and wudil vvf centers during a 3-yr period june 2007 to may 2010

out of the 1,372 vvf patients operated on by the author during this period 78 (5.7%) were due to yankan gishiri

in northern nigeria (kano state)

by local barber (wanzami) using knife 46◦ lying position

by TBA (ungozoma) using razor blade 32◦ sitting position during labor

yankan gishiri constitutes up to 5.7% of the causes of vvf as based on this review as compared to 3.7% in the literature (kees 2008)

this shows that the practice of yankan gishiri in hausa land needs some attention especially from the advocates of woman rights on female genital cutting though this practice cannot be classically termed so

Thank you

Isofs DAKAR 2010