Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

FGM is the term used to refer to removal of female genital parts. Why do they do that?

In many societies the FGM is performed because of the belief that it reduces the sexual desire for a woman and therefore believed to be faithful. It makes the woman clean and promotes virginity and chastity. The women are sewed up and only opened for the husbands. In societies that practice FGM is it very difficult for a woman that has not undergone the “surgery” to find someone who wants to marry her. There is also a belief that the female genitals are ugly and bulky. “In some cultures, there is a belief that a woman's genitals can grow and become unwieldy, hanging down between her legs, unless the clitoris is excised. Some groups believe that a woman's clitoris is dangerous and that if it touches a man's penis he will die. Others believe that if the baby's head touches the clitoris during childbirth, the baby will die.

Religion is officially not saying that FGM should be done, but there are stories told that the women that perform this have learned that this is what the religion tells them that it is the right thing to do. These women can’t read and this is the way they make a living.

WHO (World Health Organization) estimate that around 140 million woman around the world have had female genital mutilation. About 92 million girls age 10 years and above are estimated to have undergone FGM in Africa.  FMG is mostly proceeded at girls between infancy and age 15.  6000 girls a day have to go through this procedure.

The side effects of the procedure can lead to death. It causes shock, hemorrhage, damage to the organs surrounding the clitoris and labia may occur.  After a while the urine may be retained and serious infection. They also use the same instruments on several girls without sterilization which can lead to the spreading of for example HIV.

“First sexual intercourse can only take place after gradual and painful dilation of the opening left after mutilation. In some cases, cutting is necessary before intercourse can take place. In one study carried out in Sudan, 15% of women interviewed reported that cutting was necessary before penetration could be achieved. Some new wives are seriously damaged by unskillful cutting carried out by their husbands. A possible additional problem resulting from all types of female genital mutilation is that lasting damage to the genital area can increase the risk of HIV transmission during intercourse.”

“During childbirth, existing scar tissue on excised women may tear. Infibulated women, whose genitals have been tightly closed, have to be cut to allow the baby to emerge. If no attendant is present to do this, perineal tears or obstructed labour can occur. After giving birth, women are often reinfibulated to make them ''tight'' for their husbands. The constant cutting and restitching of a women's genitals with each birth can result in tough scar tissue in the genital area.”

Procedures

Female genital mutilation is classified into four major types.

1. Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals) and, in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris).
2. Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are "the lips" that surround the vagina).
3. Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner, or outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris.
4. Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area. 
   

"Tools" like these can be used when the girls or young womens genitals are removed without anaesthesia and older women holding the girls down!

“FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a person's rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death.”

Read more at Amnesty International and World Health Organization (WHO):

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ACT77/006/1997/en/3ed9f8e9-e984-11dd-8224-a709898295f2/act770061997en.html

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/

Raise Your Voice Against The Violation Of Human Rights!!!