A 25 year-old woman named M’mah Sylla from Guinea-Conakry just passed away. The Guinean community is outraged, as we all should be.
By Madeline Willis
This post is part of a series of opinion pieces in diverse mediums focusing on the theme “What makes you mad about global health?” These submissions are by McGill students who were part of the course PPHS 511 Fundamentals of Global Health in Fall 2021.
M’mah Sylla died on Saturday November 20 in Tunis, Tunisia after being evacuated there to undergo numerous emergency medical procedures. Sylla had been victim to multiple sexual assaults in Conakry, Guinea by men posing as doctors. She first visited the supposed, unregistered, yet practicing, health clinic back in July seeking help with stomach pains. During this first visit, Patrice Lamah drugged and raped her. M’mah Sylla returned to the clinic about a month later, concerned she may be pregnant. Patrice Lamah admitted to assaulting her in July and agreed to help her with aborting the pregnancy. Ten days later, when Sylla returned for an abortion procedure, Patrice Lamah raped her yet again, assuring her that the act would effectively abort the pregnancy. The following day, Patrice Lamah referred Sylla to Celeste Millimouno for an ultrasound. Millimouno then raped her. Finally on October 10, this young woman, after having endured numerous accounts of sexual assault and deception by these fake doctors, went to seek help at the CHU Ignace Deen hospital, where doctors discovered that she was deathly ill with necrotic intestines. Her case began gaining public attention, and Guinean authorities finally evacuated M’mah Sylla to Tunis where she underwent multiple emergency procedures, but died one month later.
When recounting her story, M’mah Sylla reportedly asked Djénabou Diallo Sylla, president of NGO “Mon enfant, ma vie” (My child, my life), multiple times if she did something wrong, and if this was her fault. Even as she fell ill, she assured everyone that she would keep on fighting. Rights activist groups have been organizing protests, and Sylla’s family and friends, professionals in the health community, and public officials have been vocal about demands for justice, health care reform, and women’s rights. President of the Union of consumers of Guinea, Ousmane Keita, urges that the Guinean Order of Physicians must collaborate with the Ministry of Health to prevent unlicensed doctors from practicing. The Health Inspector General launched an investigation and has begun closing non-registered clinics. During a meeting of the Ministry of Health, Professor Hassane Bah stated, “As humans, we are shocked, as doctors, we are revolted.” Halimatou Camara, M’mah Sylla’s lawyer, spoke frankly about the situation, stating that in Guinea the majority of rape cases are trivialized by judges, and sentences rarely exceed three years and are most often in the case of the assault of a minor. M’mah Sylla’s uncle, Alpha Amadou Diallo, assures the public that the fight for justice will go on, and M’mah didn’t die for nothing. He hopes that many lives will be saved as a result of their demands for reform. He calls for improvement of the conditions of life for women and of the health system.
I lived in Guinea from 2018 to 2020 as an education volunteer with the Peace Corps, and was in Conakry, Guinea for a visit in July of this year, so when I read this story, it jolted me. Infuriated me. Devastated me. What if this happened to one of my dear friends? The details of the case are gut-wrenching. During my time in Guinea, I learned about the complexities of people’s perceptions of the health system, including distrust and uneasiness with hospitals, often due to negative firsthand experiences and a general belief of poor quality of services. Imagine the wave of impact that this tragic course of events will have on the Guinean community, especially young women. One day at a village pharmacy, a Guinean community health worker and friend of mine told me it was heartbreaking how many women come to the pharmacy in grave conditions, with infections that could have been treated early on. Due to stigma and taboo surrounding women’s reproductive and sexual health, making the decision to seek care is difficult and even risky, as there may be social or marital repercussions. I stand with the Guinean activists fighting for gender equality every day in an environment where such conversations are often unwelcome. And I stand with Guinean health professionals, who work to provide services to young women despite innumerable obstacles.
M’mah Sylla, who feared she was pregnant as a result of sexual assault, trusted in who she believed were health professionals to support her in her reproductive health care needs, and it cost her her life. This young woman did not have sufficient access to quality, licensed health care providers, and beyond that, she suffered total negligence and abuse.
In an effort to gage how others amongst my family, friends, and peer group are feeling about the issue of women’s access to reproductive health care, I decided to conduct a survey. 34 people amongst my personal contacts responded to the following questions: “What does women’s access to quality reproductive health care mean to you? Why is it important to you? What problems do you see?” While the survey group did include people of all different ages, multiple nationalities, economic status, sex, and cultural identities-- due to the nature of my recruitment strategy, this survey is by no means a representative sample of any population. There was consensus amongst many responses, including most notably the perception of women’s access to reproductive health care as a basic human right, specifically the right to body autonomy. Several participants commented on how a woman’s state of empowerment in her reproductive health contributes to the overall wellness of a society. Obstacles named included financial cost, insurance coverage, religion, social taboo, and conservative politics. Some participants highlighted disparities in care, specifically, the increased maternal mortality rate amongst Black women. Many expressed concerns over accessibility and a sense of doom about the path the United States is taking. Access to reproductive health care was defined as access to 1) preventing unwanted pregnancies through contraceptive methods like birth and family planning, 2) feminine hygiene products, 3) screenings, 4) medications and treatments, 5) procedures like hysterectomies, 6) pre-natal and post-partum care, with emphasis on the need to increase post-partum care and postpartum depression awareness, 7) education on sexual, reproductive, and nutritional health, 8) maternity leave, and 9) abortion.
We, as women, as men, as citizens of the world, ought to be absolutely inconsolably outraged at the state of women’s access to reliable reproductive health care in 2021. I would like to believe that if we had to face the reality of the gross injustices that take place every day all over the world, including in our home countries, even the most affluent and privileged among us would ferociously protest. Do we care for our neighbors and strangers or does our compassion only extend to the limits of our own kin? To what extent are we, as individuals, agents of change? How may we enact that change? Leading female activists in Guinea, such as Djénabou Diallo Sylla (of NGO Mon enfant, ma vie), Moussa Yero Bah (of NGO L’association femmes, développement et droits humains), and Halimatou Camara (M’mah Sylla’s lawyer) are excellent role-models for us to follow. We must speak loudly to make our opinions and priorities heard and take the future into our own hands.
References:
Bah, M. (2021, November 23). La Guinée en émoi après la mort de M’mah Sylla. RFI. https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20211123-la-guin%C3%A9e-en-%C3%A9moi-apr%C3%A8s-la-mort-de-m-mah-sylla
Raynal, M. (2021, November 24). Affaire M’mah Sylla: le corps de la jeune femme rapatrié en Guinée. RFI. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20211124-affaire-m-mah-sylla-le-corps-de-la-jeune-femme-rapatri%25C3%25A9-en-guin%25C3%25A9e
Rédaction Africanews. (2021, November 25). Guinea: Residents demand justice for late rape victim, M'Mah Sylla. Africanews. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.africanews.com/amp/2021/11/25/guinea-residents-demand-justice-for-late-rape-victim-m-mah-sylla/
Barry, D. (2021, November 24). Guinée : émoi après le décès de M’mah Sylla, violée par de prétendus Médecins. jeuneafrique. https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1269986/societe/guinee-emoi-apres-le-deces-de-mmah-sylla-violee-par-de-pretendus-medecins/
Acknowledgments:
We would like to thank Professor Madhukar Pai for setting and sharing this assignment results with us and the teaching assistants Alexandra Jaye Zimmer, Lavanya Huria and Angie Sassi for their support in coordinating the results.