Female Genitalia Mutilation
Picture this, a young innocent girl, between the age of eight and twelve, running around, playing, and having a good time. Then she is snatched away to a foul hut, whose floor is nothing but dirt. Once in the hut, the helpless girl is stripped of all her clothing and pinned to the dirt floor. Her tiny legs are spread and held wide apart with a tight grasp. Soon afterward, a midwife, with no education in human anatomy or medicine, enters the hut and says a prayer. While the young girl is held down in this most vulnerable position the midwife takes a handful of sand and rubs it all over the girl’s genitals (Walker 106). With no anesthetics and a jagged rock, that merely has a sharpened edge, the midwife
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This form of FGM is called female circumcision or Sunna circumcision. Another form of female genitalia mutilation is called excision or clitoridectomy. Removing the entire clitoris and either part or all of the labia minora is performed in this type of mutilation. Intermediate circumcision, another form of FGM, is very similar to a clitoridectomy. The difference is that in addition to the removal of the clitoris and part or all of the labia minora, that part or all of the labia majora is also removed. The last and most severe form of FGM is called infibulation or pharaonic circumcision. This includes the removal of both the clitoris and the labia minora, as well as much of the labia majora. Then the remaining sides are sewn together (Walker 367).
This ritual begins with the facilitator praying and singing praises. Then, as a woman identified as P.K. retells her dreadful experience, she was instructed to lie down on a mat. P.K. says that no sooner had her frail, young, legs hit the mat they were tightly grasped by heavy hands and spread wide apart. Her legs and arms were both immobilized. Next, she tells that a foreign substance was rubbed all over her genital organs and that it caused a very unpleasant sensation. She later discovered that the foreign substance was sand and that it was used in order to assist in the operation. P.K. goes on to tell that
These international agencies work together, along with other missionary workers to eliminate female circumcision, as it is also called, from its entirety from the world due to its view as an extreme form of discrimination against women. No woman should be subjected to the cruel practice, where young girls are held down by their elders, violated in such a way to remove an organ in their sacred area and later subjected to the pain that sexual intercourse and childbirth become by a generational practice.
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
Born in the Big Rains, written as an autobiography by Fadumo Korn, tells about a life after being cut. Human Rights Watch, (2010) Although you may never have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting, or possibly even heard of it, this terrible undertaking will affect more than three million girls this year in Africa alone. Fadumo was one of those girls many years ago, screaming as the blade sliced her lower region and as she grew up, she stepped in in her community to help stop this procedure harming many young girls. Now, it’s time for all of us to take action and move against female genital mutilation.
Today alone 6000 girls around the world are being held down screaming, crying, and blacking out from the pain pleading for their elders to stop. Their voices fall on deaf ears as their right to sexual pleasure is sliced, chopped, pricked, scraped and burnt away.
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
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is commonly referred to as female circumcision. The process of FGM involves altering the clitoris, sometimes removing it partially or entirely. FGM is a social construction practiced by a myriad of countries, although no construction is absolutely universal for every culture. For my multicultural paper am going to discuss in detail, the historical orientation of FGM. Additionally I will compare and contrast the practices of FGM versus the western version of male circumcision through a religious lens.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a surgical procedure performed on the genitals of girls and women in many parts of the world. The term FGM covers a range of procedures, which are also
In our literature review we found that FGM is a culturally rooted practice that has both human rights infractions and health complications, mostly affecting prepubescent girls. We believe this to be a violation of human rights but more specifically children’s rights, as it does not allow these young girls the opportunity to physically develop naturally, with the conditions of health, liberty, dignity and protection from all forms of cruelty (Braddy & Files, 2007). Wide ranging health concerns were found in the literature review: acute, long term, and obstetric health complications, varying degrees of complications from infections to still births and deaths (Braddy & Files, 2007). The complications of FGM are often treatable, however, all of these complications are preventable if the procedure was no longer practiced (Banks et al., 2006). Knowledge or lack thereof in relation to current scholarship we tend to flush out is whether it is ethical for western feminist to disapprove and disregard FGM as a practice and the implications that disapproval has on our understanding of FGM.
What is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)? Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is often the removal or cutting of the labia and the clitoris. The World Health Organization describes FGM as any procedure that injures the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. In the video FGM survivor: Fundamentally, it’s ‘child abuse’, “CNN talks about FGM also known as female circumcision or female cutting. This is the ritual removal of some or all the external female genitalia. Mothers as well as neighbors and other family members are involved in this process”. FGM is important because they have no health benefits and is in fact very harmful to health in many ways. FGM is illegal. FGM
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision, is practiced in Africa and in the Middle Eastern part of the world. FGM has been overlooked by a multitude of people because it is considered a religious practice. FGM can lead to many serious long-term physical complications. A Kurdish girl, Payam, and her little sister were forced by their mother to undergo FGM; their experience had a ghastly effect on them. Nothing could ever compare to the pain they had to face when being circumcised. This practice dates back two thousand years ago.
Imagine being, forced down and having a sacred body part cut off, without any anesthetics or hope for any health benefit just because a cultural belief permits it. This is the nonconsensual fate of innocent women worldwide that are victims of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). FGM, often referred to as female circumcision, is where the woman's outer gential parts are partially or completely cut off and the vaginal opening is then sewned together. FGM is an international issue as a violation of the female body and their rights. By promoting awareness of this wrong and immoral ongoing current issue, actions can be taken to help prevent any further damage.
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.
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
FGM originated in Africa. It was, and remains, a cultural, not a religious practice. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is also known as female circumcision is performed on young women before they reach puberty. There are three types of FGM practiced. One is Sunna circumcision in which the tip of the clitoris and/or its covering (prepuce) are removed, Clitoridectomy where the entire clitoris, the prepuce and adjacent labia are removed, and Infibulation (a.k.a. Pharaonic circumcision) which is a clitoridectomy followed by sewing up of the vulva. Only a small opening is left to allow urine and menstrual blood to pass. In all types of FGM, the vagina is sown up until the female is ready to have sexual intercourse