Clitoridectomy in Sudan

Female genital mutilation is a huge apart of the culture in Africa, and the idea of Westerners coming in to change and enforce their own way of life by stopping it hasn’t gone over well amongst the local villagers. But the reasons behind the Western ideals are good ones, no one knows how many people have died from infection from FGC because it’ often reported as malaria, making it impossible to understand and know just how many young people have been effected by it

major part in a human's life, a close control over this specific aspect in a

For class today, we read two brief articles on genital mutilation. In class, we also watched V-Day: Until the Violence Stops. Female genital mutilation is the removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. It is performed with a blade with or without anesthesia. I have been aware of the idea of male circumcision before, but I had honestly never thought about female circumcision before the reading. It shocked me to learn that certain cultures did not want women to have sexual desires. As a teenager growing up I did not know enough about my own body, I could only imagine what it was like to not understand your own body and not understand why your community would want you to have a FGM procedure done. Leyla Hussein explained that she

Throughout history, there has been a controversial argument on whether female genital mutilation should be banned from Africa. Some people describe female genital mutilation or FGM as a violation of women’s rights and others view it as served for a religious purpose having to do with the Islamic holy book, the Qur’an. Female Genital Mutilation is the removal of all or part of the external parts of the female genitalia. There are three different types of FGM; the first type of FGM is the Sunna Circumcision which is the removal of the tip of the clitoris. The second type is Clitoridectomy which is the removal of the entire clitoris and the adjacent labia. The third type is Infibulation which is the removal of the clitoris and the entire labia including the labia majora and minora. After the removal of the entire labia, the joining of the scraped sides are brought together using thorns or catgut, leaving only a small portion open for menstruation and urinating. Africa has the highest rates of FGM being performed. About 100 million women and girls are affected by FGM and at least 3 million girls are at risk undergoing this process every year. FGM is usually carried out by an elderly woman who is paid fees from the family of the girl undergoing this process (P.a.p.-Blog par. 2, 4). Female Genital Mutilation is usually performed on girl between the ages of three and adulthood. According to the UNICEF or United

Thesis: Female Genital Circumcision is a cultural procedure that is performed on young girls for a variety of reasons. Members of this culture chose to continue these traditions because they believe they will gain sociological, health and marriage benefits for their daughters, ensuring these young girls a better future is mandatory.

This research is limited only to the ethical issues of Female Genital Mutilation(FGM). Ethical issues about other kinds/types of mutilation like the tattoos or markings, surgeries, transplants and piercings are not furthermore discussed, explained, and identified in this research.

Now that we know little about the mutilation process these females undergoes; let’s ask ourselves “Why would someone ever agree to conduct such procedure on their own will?” If mutilation emphasizes the clear violation of human rights, why is this procedure being implemented in many different countries? Well, this issue is due to different ethical, and moral perspective; one may believe that female mutilation is morally right; while others may think it’s a violation of human rights. Let’s first explore the ethical theories on this

Female Genital Mutilation is a practice in which external portions of female genitalia are removed for non-medical, cultural reasons. In many countries and cultures, young girls are forced to go through this procedure before getting married, based on the belief that the practice will keep them pure and virgins. This practice, set in place by a patriarchal hegemonic system, controls and decides the lives of any girls in a lot of places. Often times, these lives are ended because the practice is non-medical, not safe, and definitely not even done the right way.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) also known as female circumcision is a tradition passed down from generation to generation occurring all around the world affecting millions of women and young girls. FGM is controversial matter most prevalent in Africa (Ahanonu and Victor, 2014). To this day it’s estimated that about 28 African countries still practice this ritual including Nigeria (Ahanonu and Victor, 2014). In the past twenty years there has been a worldwide increased interest in FGM due to its multiplicity and lifelong effects. Some people believe FGM violates basic human rights where others believe this ritual is required to increase their chances of marriageability and that this practice is a transition from adolescents into adulthood

However, I question such reasoning. Is FGM a human rights violation? I believe it can be, especially in cases in which the practice is done on children and/or forced. And while this may be true in many cases and the masking of this under the guise of maintaining tradition must be addressed by the world community, female circumcision is not always forced and is possible to be performed on a consenting adult for various cultural reasons. This may be a difficult argument to follow in countries such as Djibouti and Egypt, in which the prevalence of FGM reaches close to ninety-eight percent of the female population. However, there are many countries in sub Saharan Africa such as Kenya and Liberia that are closer to fifty percent and many countries with an even smaller percentage of the female population being circumcised , so there is some level of choice in these countries. No matter how unnecessary and barbaric some may see the practice, FGM must be acknowledged as a cultural practice in cases in which it is not forced but rather sought after by a consenting adult, utilizing cultural relativism in recognizing that female circumcision may be an acceptable practice to some people and their culture should not be persecuted unnecessarily by members of the contemporary human rights movement who cannot relate to it for no reason other than that. So the question is asked again, is female genital mutilation a violation of human rights? Only in some cases. For this reason, to

Women, who practice FGM have argued that the international laws against female genital mutilation portrays them as abusers (Khaja 690). They dispute that these laws insults not only themselves, but along with their mothers, communities, country and ancestry (Khaja 690). These attitudes demonstrated from the West are interpreted from these people as racist and demeaning. In fact, often times, Western civilizations believe that by intervening into other cultures, they believe that they have the intentions of making the indigenous people, which are ‘less advanced and inferior’ are then surprised was faced resistance or resentment from the people (Abusharaf 216). A problematic situation occurred in an Eastern African nation, where the people revolted when the British attempted to eradicated this long practiced and heavily embedded custom (Abusharaf 221). The British ruled Sudan as one of its colonies and in the 1940s, the British passed a law called ‘Pharaonic circumcision”, which prohibited infibulation (meaning surgical mutilation or modification of sex genitals) (Abusharaf 209). The British viewed this custom as savage and barbaric and did not understand the emotional and group identity attachment to this practice (Abusharaf 213). The British believed that the Western values would lead the Sudanese people to the path of civilization and progress.

Field workers are using applied anthropology and finding that the effects of FGM are exaggerated far too often. Many studies on the topic include no solid evidence of the deaths and the issues that are said to come along with this alteration. The studies include second hand reports and other bad samples (222). Sandra Lane and Robert Rubinstein said that many societies don’t view it as mutilation but as an improvement and those without it are sometimes considered disgusting (215-218). This is interesting because those in western culture who don’t have the alteration feels its disgusting for those that do have it. Out of the fifty women Lane and Rubinstein interviewed only two weren’t happy with their circumcision (215). These two may have suffered side effects from a malpractice. Shweder suggests that like unsafe abortions, the procedure could use some improvements. Though the alteration has its flaws there’s no reason to come in between sacred rituals because we

1. Female circumcision is the removal of all or part of a female’s genitals (Berman & Cannon, 2004). It is difficult to evaluate morality. Objectivism says that moral judgments are true for everyone, while cultural relativism says it depends on ones culture (Vaughn, 2016). Female circumcision is used to prevent illegitimate children (Berman & Cannon, 2004). However, the surgery is done at a young age, does not use correct medical procedures and causes major health problems (Berman & Cannon, 2004). For these reasons, female circumcision is not morally permissible.

Imagine this! Being either a young girl or a woman forcefully bound against your will while elders perform a procedure called Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The young girls and women who are forced to have this procedure done not only loses their rights to sexual pleasure but their rights are sliced, chopped, punctured, and finally burnt away. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) otherwise known as Female Genital Circumcision (FGC) is also a controversial topic in Western societies. This paper will examine the history of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), hegemonic perspective on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), health consequences of having this procedure done, how Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) affects women’s sexual function, and women who

Female Genital Mutilation is believed to have started in Egypt 2,000 years ago and spread from there. Only a few years ago, FGM was considered a cultural tradition, but now the United Nations has labeled it as a violation of human rights. Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United States has declared Female Genital Mutilation grounds for seeking asylum and is a punishable offense (1).