Female genital mutilation (FGM) is also called female genital cutting (FGC) and female circumcision. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, FGM is “all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic reasons.” There are many types of female genital mutilation, the most common (close to 80% of all cases, according to WHO) being the removal of the clitoris and the labia minora. Other, less common, practices include herbal solutions to cause bleeding and narrow the vaginal opening, angurya cuts, and gishiri cuts. These practices can be extremely detrimental to the physical and emotional health of girls and women.

Female circumcision has been around for a very long time. Much of the time it is done to prevent females from attaining pleasure through sexual intercourse and thereby ensuring a girl’s purity before marriage and her loyalty during. It also, in some cases, increases the male’s sexual pleasure. Sometimes FGM/C is also seen as an “initiation of girls into womanhood” (WHO) or the removal of supposedly unnecessary and disgusting parts of the body.

This practice has life-long health consequences in the physical, mental, and emotional realms. Oftentimes performed with crude instruments in the absence of anesthetic, bleeding caused by this procedure can lead to hemorrhages and immediate death. Infections and septicemia are common. Shock can transform later in life to “feelings of incompleteness, anxiety and depression” (WHO). According to UNICEF, FGM can also have effects such as “failure to heal; abscess formation; cysts; excessive growth of scar tissue; urinary tract infection; painful sexual intercourse; increased susceptibility to HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and other blood-borne diseases; reproductive tract infection; pelvic inflammatory diseases; infertility; painful menstruation; chronic urinary tract obstruction/bladder stones; urinary incontinence; obstructed labour; [and] increased risk of bleeding and infection during childbirth.”

So just how prevalent is FGM/C? In which parts of the world is it done? How old are girls when the procedure is performed? In Africa, between 100 and 140 million females are alive who have been forced to endure this harsh violation of basic human rights (UNICEF). It is also practiced in some regions of Asia and has been transported by immigrants to other countries, including Canada and the United States. As of 2003, 90-98% of Somalian and 100% of Indonesian women go through the procedure (Dietrich). Most commonly, female circumcision is enacted when a girl is between the ages of four and fourteen, although in some countries it is done while a girl is still an infant. In some rare cases mature women have their bodies violated in this manner.

Fortunately, the situation is improving. Amnesty International has been raising awareness and working toward laws to protect women from female circumcision. WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) collaborated to publish a Regional Plan to Accelerate the Elimination of FGM. Several organizations have set to work educating healthcare professionals in the prevention of female genital mutilation. Egypt, where the prevalence of FGM/C was 97.3% in 2003 (Dietrich), has an emerging movement for the elimination of the practice. In June of this year, for example, the Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali declared a ban on medical professionals performing
FGM/C. Nigeria, where the prevalence rate was low in comparison at 19% (Dietrich), has passed two laws called The Female Circumcision and Genital Mutilation Prohibition Law and the Female Violation and Discrimination Prohibition Law, in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Unfortunately the laws are difficult to enforce, but they are a step in the right direction. As human beings, easy things we can do are raise awareness and lobby our local politicians to get the government to take action.

.
Dietrich, H. L.. “FGC Around the World.” The Female Genital Cutting Education and Networking Project. 2003. 3 November 2007. .

“Female Genital Mutilation.” June 2000. World Health Organization (WHO). 3 November 2007. .

“Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting.” Child Protection from Violence, Exploitation and Abuse. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). 3 November 2007. .

“Inah Kaloga Discusses Amnesty International’s Concerns on Female Genital Mutilation.” 30 June 2004. Amnesty International. 3 November 2007. .