Female Genital Mutilation
The Horror
Female genital mutilation is practiced in 28 countries of the world. According to estimations by the United Nations, 6 000 girls are victims of this crime daily. For example, FGM is carried out on girls as young as 80 days old in places like Ethiopia in the Christian highlands, and up to 14 years of age in the lowland Muslim regions. The genital mutilation of adolescent girls is still a common custom in Sierra Leone, where many see it as good preparation for marriage and motherhood.
Working in the field of sexual health every day, I can't help but be horrified by stories such as that of Waris Dirie, formal international supermodel, as told to Yvonne Oerlemans and reported in the O Magazine, South Africa:
'When I was five, my mother took me to a woman who circumcised me. Held by my mother and sitting on a rock, the woman, without any anaesthetic, cut my clitoris, labia minora and labia majora with an old razor blade, and sewed the wound coarsely, leaving a tiny hole to urinate.'
The good news is that the chorus of voices calling for an end to this practice is getting louder. Women who have undergone this gruesome ritual themselves are now heading the fight against it.
Dirie wrote four books, some of which have become worldwide bestsellers: 'Desert Flower,' 'Desert Dawn,' 'Desert Children,' and what she described as her most personal book, 'Letter To My Mother.'
Read the Reader's Digest version of Dirie's amazing story
here.
The Operation
The term female circumcision is misleading. Where male circumcision is a fairly straight-forward operation, the female equivalent should be described as genital mutilation.
The operation comes in three forms:
1. The removal of the tip of the clitoris;
2. The removal of the entire clitoris as well as the labia;
3. Infibulation, which leaves the woman with only a tiny passage to pass urine and menstrual blood through.
Health Consequences
According to the World Health Organization, FGM has no health benefits, and it harms girls and women in many ways. It involves removing and damaging healthy and normal female genital tissue, and interferes with the natural functions of girls' and women's bodies.
Immediate complications can include severe pain, shock, haemorrhage (bleeding), tetanus or sepsis (bacterial infection), urine retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to nearby genital tissue.
Long-term consequences can include:
- recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections;
- cysts;
- infertility;
- the need for later surgeries.
Reasons for Female Genital Mutilation
Reasons for female genital mutilation include the following:
- to lead girls 'purely' into marriage, which is mainly about controlling female sexuality;
- to initiate girls into womanhood;
- to change female genitalia aesthetically where it is believed to be unsightly or dirty;
- to sustain the mistaken belief that it enhances fertility and child survival;
- to maintain religious beliefs surrounding FMG.
What Can You Do?
1. Educate yourself.
2. Help raise awareness! Talk about female genital mutilation to your families, friends, colleagues and acquaintances.
3. Support politicians, lobbies, and help organisations who actively fight against genital mutilation.
4. Stand behind those who fight against it with your time or donations.
(From Female Genital Mutilation back to Anatomy of the Vagina)
(From Female Genital Mutilation back to Better Sex for Women Home Page)
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