The Supreme Court of Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday reportedly declared that women in Nigeria who have clitorises longer than 7,5 centimetres (3 inches) can now be legally considered as men.
This was a very controversial ruling which however led to jubilation
A 36-year old Isioma Adeyemi had requested to change her legal status from female to male due to the length of her clitoris.
This request was however granted by five-member Supreme Court panel, led by Mary Odili who ruled that her request was “perfectly sound and legitimate”, ordering that her legal status be changed immediately.
Ms. Adeyemi had been in a legal battle for 7 years. Being a woman with an exceptionally large clitoris, her husband repudiated her, she eagerly wanted to change her legal status which has been granted.
She said “ This is the greatest day of my life! My first husband repudiated me because my clitoris was bigger than his peen, now I finally get some kind of justice.”
Ms. Inna Shevchenko, leader of The radical feminist exhibitionist group Femen, describes the ruling as “a great advancement for African women in general”.
“A small number of women just obtained a great boost in their legal status and are now in a position to help their peers. It’s a great day for women!”
Under Nigerian law, Ms. Adeyemi can now share landed properties with male brothers, have several wives as she wishes.
According to governmental experts, over 600 other Nigerian women have sufficiently big clitorises to apply for a change to their legal status.
World news daily reports that Nigeria is only the second country in the world to offer women with large clitorises the option of being legally considered as men.
Uganda offers the same choice to all women with clitorises longer than 5 centimetres (2 inches). Only 11 women have legally changed their status to men since the law was passed in 2011.
