Female Circumcision and Female Genital Mutilation

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Also, America and Europe then began to regard the practice with increasing criticism. According to the article “Female Circumcision,” the writer says that,” France and England, for example, have instituted education programs in schools and hospitals, hoping to help teachers and health care workers better recognize not only victims of female circumcision but those who might be at risk.”Many African countries such as Sudan, Senegal, Yemen, Chad, Liberia and Mali have already signed. Though this is a great first step, and other policies must be implemented and enforced. It is clear that there must be specific laws banning female genital mutilation in each African country. In 1994, Ghana passed a law, which explicitly prohibits FGM, and many others followed it. Those countries who are still hesitating are also invited to do so. Enforcing these laws proves yet to be difficult. Doctors’, nurses’ and midwives’ professional associations must take a clear stance against FGM and pass regulations forbidding their members to perform the procedure. The doctors must then refuse to practice FGM in their communities, as well as educate their people on the medical risks and harmful results of undergoing FGM.
The last argument is the profit find behind the FC/FMG practice. A woman’s honor is contingent upon her participation in this traditional initiation. Girls report a feeling of being alone and ashamed if they are not circumcised. Castledine states that, “Because of its association with purity, young women who have not been excised have little chance of marriage in the countries where FGM is practiced.” Thus, some girls ask to be circumcised while others are dragged by their family. Nevertheless, for many this procedure is seen as vital. Uncircu...

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... New York Times (2012): Global Issues In Context. Web. 27 Jun. 2013.
Buckwalter, Rebecca. "No end in sight: female mutilation unabated." Harvard International Review 27.1 (2005): 7. Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 18 Jun. 2013.
Castledine, Jacqueline. “Female Genital Mutilation: An Issue of Cultural Relativism or Human Rights?” Mount Holyoke College.
Coffman, Jennifer E. "Producing FGM in U.S. courts: political asylum in the post-Kasinga Era." Africa Today Magazine 53.4 (2007): 59+. Global Issues In Context. Web. 27 Jun. 2013.
"Female Circumcision." Global Issues in Context Online Collection. (2013): Global Issues In Context. Web. 27 June 2013.
Mason, Marcia L. Atrocities Against Women: Female Genital Mutilation. Sept. 1995.
Xiaorong Li, “Tolerating the Intolerable: The Case of Female Genital Mutilation,” Philosophy and Public Policy Quarterly 21. 1 (2001): 4.

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