Female Genital Cutting Research Paper

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting (FGC) and female circumcision, is the removal of part or the entire external female genitalia or any injury to the female genital organ with no medical reasoning. The practice of circumcision is entrenched in gender inequality and efforts to control women’s sexuality. It is believed to bring about honor, purity, and cleanliness; however, FGM/FGC 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 rights of children. The practice also violates a woman’s right to

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

Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, is a practice that involves the removal of part or all of the female external genitalia. It occurs throughout the world, but most commonly in Africa where they say that it is a tradition and social custom to keep a young girl pure and a married woman faithful. But to some Westerners, the practice is viewed as being primitive and barbaric. We react with disgust and find it nearly incomprehensible that female genital mutilation can occur in the world today

Female circumcision has been a cultural tradition practiced in different parts of the world for many years in order to secure virginity until marriage. In Africa female genital mutilation tradition is a part of the Muslim culture and parts of the Middle East, for the women to be desirable by her husband. (JPEG) Consequently, girls the ages of 4 through 14 are to endure the severe pains of female circumcision in order to not betray their culture and family beliefs. (Ali, 2016) In the US, the estimated number of females between 15 and 49, who are either at risk of genital mutilation or who have already undergone a procedure, has reached more than 500,000, triple the amount reported in the 1990 national census. (Female genital mutilation in the US tripled in 25 years, 2015) This controversial practice performed on females lead advocates to believe that this is a form of female genital mutilation that must come to an end. (Ali, 2016)

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,

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

In the case of 5 year of Beza undergoing Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) at a young age, I believe we should start by revisiting what exactly FGM is before inputting our opinion on this case. What is Female Genital Mutilation? There are three types of FGM that can be performed. The first being Clitoridectomy; is when part or the whole of the clitoris is amputated and the bleeding is stopped by pressure or stitching. The second type is Excision; both the clitoris and the inner lips are amputated. The bleeding is usually stopped stitching, but the vagina is not covered up. Lastly, the third type is infibulation; the clitoris is completely removed. Some or all of the labia minora are cut off, and incisions are made in the labia majora to create a raw surface.

I have heard about female circumcision but I have never seen it done. I was in a great shock while watching the girl being circumcised in the video shared by the professor. The female genital mutilation was done in an untidy environment, without anesthesia or antiseptic; and to see it done with unsterilized and sharp tool like razor blades was disheartening.

Female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation (FGM), is a major topic in the feminist spotlight. Based solely on the difference between the descriptions of the topic (circumcision vs. mutilation), it is easy to see there is conflict of opinions about the ethics surrounding the practice. While male circumcision is often easily accepted in modern day society, female circumcision is not. The common stereotype is that female circumcision is performed as a male dominance practice (Vestbostad & Blystad, 2014), however, there are many alternate traditions surrounding the practice. Therefore, I will investigate both sides of the story: the religious/traditional outlook, feminist/human rights outlook and why concern is placed on female circumcision over male.

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).

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.

As Americans, it is easy for us to take an ethnocentric view on FGC. When we hear of any practice where part of a girl’s genitalia is removed, it sounds horrifying. We take this position naturally because the practice of FGC is unknown to us; it is something we do not understand—and therefore we can easily condemn it. We hear that this procedure takes place in Africa, Indonesia and The Middle East. Since we deem these countries third-world, we assume these people are un-educated, ignorant and need our (America’s) help, to eradicate the tradition of FGC. Many believe that Female Genital Cutting is an archaic tradition supported by male dominated societies to keep women in their subservient roles. However, if we examine this procedure closer, one will find many parallels with Western cultures and an extreme hypocrisy with this reasoning.

     Many of us never heard of Female Genital Mutilation until the story of Kauziya Kasinga, a woman from West Africa. Her father did not believe in polygamy, forced marriage, or "female circumcision". He died when she was 17 and the father's sister inherited the home, banished the mother, ended Fauziya's schooling, and

This paper presents the international community’s efforts to eliminate the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Egypt. The procedure is perceived as a violation of basic human rights and as such, efforts have been made to raise awareness to its damages, illegalize it and to create successful interventions to eliminate it (Shell-Duncan, 2008). The paper focuses on the issue of FGM in Egypt since Egypt shows a high rate of women having gone through the procedure (Boyle, Songora & Foss, 2001). As the risk factors and the possible issues are identified, a locally based solution is suggested as an appropriate and effective intervention. The case of Egypt points out a controversial issue of cultural values vs. universal values and the