FGM, Female Genital Mutilation

In the story written by Frances A. Althaus’s “Female Circumcision: Rite of Passage or Violation of Rights? She explores female circumcision within African Culture and the health complications after the ritual is completed. Female circumcision is the practice of partial or total removal of the female external vaginal area and is still practiced in several countries today , dut was ruled as illegal in America in 1997. Females did not have the option to chose if they wanted to have the procedure performed, mothers often made that decision for them. The practice is to transition a girl into womanhood and to ensure that virginity is not lost before marriage, prevention of infidelity and

Female genital mutilation may be currently reaching a changing point in its history. It is a cultural practice that is considered to have long standing importance but female genital mutilation presents to most developed nations a need for education and a need to clarify ethical dilemmas regarding it. In most cases, the push for female genital mutilation to be eradicated comes from within individual cultures and communities but internationally there is also support for eradication of this problem. The main dilemma is that most groups that actively practice female genital mutilation see it as a necessary or even obligatory ritual that defines them as a culture and gives their culture or religion autonomy. It is (at the time that this paper was written) illegal to perform female genital mutilation on a child in the United Sates but not on an adult woman, which includes anyone who is who is older than 18 years old. However, ultimately, female genital mutilation is unethical regardless of who it is performed upon, so the United States’ health care providers and the laws governing them need to step beyond their traditionally followed roles on this issue. In fact, health care providers ought to join the ongoing worldwide efforts to completely eradicate female genital mutilation. Health care providers

The World Health Organization, also known by the acronym WHO, has defined female genital mutilation as “procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.” FGM (acronym for female genital mutilation) is highly prevalent in Africa and the Middle East. An estimated 200 million and counting have been victims of this practice (UNICEF New York, 2016). In the past 20 years the tradition of female circumcision has received a lot of attention from the public and mass media and has been at the center or controversial debate (Kalev, 2004). Why? Because female circumcision is extremely detrimental to a female’s health as it causes long-term and short-term health complications and psychological damage to the victim. This research paper will discuss these topics and reassure the reader that female genital mutilation has and serves no benefits and is ultimately a violation of human rights.

The practice of female circumcision is happening in areas across the globe such as Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The United states and Serval others counties look at this as a vicious act of genital mutilation and an outright human rights violation (Clay, 2017, p.g.22). The practice of female circumcision has gone on for years as a cultural rite of passage in some countries. Other countries see it as a religious belief and others see it as a way to make their daughter more desirable for a husband The author reports that even through in the United States that many women more than half a million are still at risk of having their genital cut from the CDC reports in 2012 (Clay, 2017,

Cindy Little, the writer of “Female Genital Circumcision: Medical and Cultural Considerations” and several other articles on the topic, concentrates her writing on the procedure’s process and side effects, while briefly touching on ethical issues and cultural issues. Little, a PhD, MSN, and BSN in Nursing, currently works as the Assistant Clinical Professor at Drexel University, a U.S. News top fifty nursing school. Little specializes in Women’s Health developing courses for undergraduates in obstetrics, pediatrics, and women's health. In the United States, medical personnel are held in high regard in terms of medical ethics. Little concentrates her research on medical information, for example, “The American Medical Association also condemns the practice of [Female Genital Mutilation] and supports the enactment of legislation to criminalize the practice” (Little 30). By keeping clear focus, Little and other medical authors on the topic of female circumcision enhance their credibility by speaking on the health impacts of the procedure rather than the emotional impacts. As references, Little uses sources such as the World Health Organization, an international organization that concerns itself with the physical, social, and mental health of all beings. The use of reliable sources strengthens her argument against the fatal nature of female circumcision and its detriment to human

Female Genital Mutilation, is a topic which has caused many controversies worldwide. Female Genital Mutilation is a tradition since antiquity, which occurs in twenty eight countries in Africa, and among certain communities in the Middle East, and Asia. The latitude of this issue is massive. The United Nations estimates that this practice has been performed on about 140 million females, who encounter immediate complications of shock, infections, damage to the urethra, scar formation, tetanus, bladder infections, HIV, along with long -term complications that lead to death (Lauren V, 2011). It is estimated that 3 million girls are at risk annually! During this paper, I will discuss in depth the two ethical theories (Deontology and Utilitarianism). These ethical theories will be a guide, to help understand the moral issues of Female Mutilation, and whether one can view female mutilation to be right or wrong. Aside from the ethical theories, I

"I remember the blade. How it shone! There was a woman kneeling over me with the knife. I bit her; it was all I could do. Then three women came to hold me down. One of them sat on my chest. I bit her with all my might." These words reflect Banassiri Sylla’s account of her experience undergoing female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation (FGM), at the young age of eight in the Ivory Coast. This disturbing description of her struggle makes it hard to understand why any culture could support such a practice. Yet, it is estimated that about 132 million women and girls in about thirty African countries have undergone the same, or at least similar, cultural

In Cultural Diversity around the world “Female Circumcision” is a global violence against women. According to Essential of Sociology text book “female circumcision surgery occurs seven to ten days after birth, but in others it is not performed by girls reach adolescence. Among most groups, it takes place between the ages of 4 and 8” (285). The textbook also stated about 140 million females have been circumcised in worldwide. This practice obtains on diverse shapes in different cultures. These methods would carry clinched alongside the majority condition without any structure of modern medical technology. There are women who demand that the culture continue. Others claim it is a structure from claiming custom torment to reduce female

Female circumcision is a harmful practice that remains a public health problem to women both psychologically and physically. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), of the 125 million females who have undergone the process of genital mutilation, about 20 million of them are Nigerian females between 15-49 years (Oguntoyinbo, 2015). Nigeria has the highest incidence of FGM in the world with a prevalence of 30% and makes up a quarter of all circumcised females in the world. It ranges from about 2% in the Nation’s capital to 56.9 percent in the Southwest region. Thirty-three percent of these women are circumcised before the age of 11 years. In the year 2012, statistics showed that of the estimated 272,571 Nigerian-born female immigrants in the United States, about 39, 253 were affected or at risk for FGM ( Farage, Miller, Tzeghai, Azuka, & Sobel, 2015).

FGM is very risky both physically and psychologically in both the immediate and the long-term. Some of the medical problems include: hemorrhaging, infections, septicemia, shock from the severe pain and loss of blood, risks during childbirth, and in extreme cases, death. Other side effects include: "infertility, cysts and abscesses, urinary incontinence and psychological and sexual problems.” Governments' duty to stop practices like female circumcision is written in international human rights treaties and countries must obey it. FGM is a violation of a human rights, and the process is irreversible.

In certain societies and culture, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a rite of passage and the young girls are aware of the procedure (Nawal, 2008, pp. 135-139). Furthermore, the societies and cultures who partake in this procedure as a rite of passage, religious reasons, so the girls will not be promiscuous before they get married, so the men’s penis does not fall off, and men in certain societies would prefer their wife to be circumcised (Mascia-Lees 2010, pp. 159). Even though certain societies and cultures have their reasoning for performing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), FGM can cause medical, psychological, and pyscho-sexual consequences (Reyners, 2004, pp. 242-251). According to Reyners (2004) most of the girls and women who had Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) type three conducted, they tend to experience heavily affected reproductive and urological functioning. Furthermore, according to Reyners (2004) also recommended if any woman is pregnant and has had any form of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) done, they should be monitored for their safety as well as the infants.

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).

Female genital mutilation (FGM) or female circumcision is when someone cuts partial or total removes the external causing injuries to the female genital for culture, religious or other non-medical reasons. This is harmful; which can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, infections, and can cause a child birth difficulties and higher risk of newborn’s death. Female genital mutilation is the violation of the human’s right of young girls and women, and it is wrong to let the girls and women suffer for a life time.

What is female genital mutilation or circumcision? According to the World Health Organization, it comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. (WHO, 2014). It is recognized as violation of human rights for young girls and women. The procedure creates inequality between sexes and to the extreme it is discriminatory against women. There are four types of FMG. Type 1 is referred to as clitoridectomy – which is the partial or total removal of the clitoris. Type 2 is referred to as excision – which is the partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora. Type 3 is referred to as infibulation – which is the narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. Type 4 is referred to as other – like the others it alters the female genitalia without medical purpose like piercing, scraping, pricking and cauterizing. (WHO, 2014). The practice is believed to start in Egypt, but has also been documented by the ancient Romans. The Romans would perform the procedure on their slaves to prevent pregnancy. (N. Toubia, 1994).

“More than 90 per cent of women aged 15–49 years have been cut in Djibouti, Egypt, Guinea and Somalia.” (Childinfo.org, 2013) The act of female circumcision can degrade a woman’s body, mind, and spirit. In some cases, death or a disease could even be a result of this horrific procedure, because it is no longer a legal practice in Egypt, so people go to unlicenced doctors where it is done in unsanitary conditions. The most horrific and only story I ever had the misfortune of reading was that of Egyptian feminist and activist Nawal El Saadawi as she described her traumatic circumsison procedure "Since I was a child that deep wound left in my body has never healed, “I lay in a pool of blood. After a few days, the bleeding stopped, and the daya [midwife] peered between my thighs and said, 'All is well. The wound has healed, thanks be to God.' But the pain was there, like an abscess in my flesh. I just wept, and called out to my mother for help. But the worst shock of all was when I looked around and found her standing by my side. Yes. It was her, I could not be mistaken, in flesh and blood, right in the midst of these strangers, talking to them and smiling at them as though they had not participated in slaughtering her daughter just a few minutes ago.” (El Saadawi 1980) This just shows how she had all those hurtful feelings at once, the pain physically caused by the action, the psychological pain of what had just happened to her, and