Female Circumcision Female Circumcision, also known as Female Genital Mutilation is the cutting partial/ total removal of the external female genitalia (Clitoris, sometimes the labia of girls or young women). It’s done for non-medical reasons, being that different parts of the world still practicing it, it’s consider a part of tradition, cultural beliefs and is religious. Female Genital Mutilation, FGM is usually performed on females from the age of infancy to young women, mainly done before the first menstrual period. FGM is generally being done in the Middle- Eastern part of the world and mainly in many parts of Africa. With the World Health Organization, WHO signed with nine United Nations including The United States have eliminated FGM. …show more content…
Stating that it is not allowed to be done in a medical facility. Cutting or removal of the tissue around the vagina that gives female pleasurable feeling in sex is sewn up before a female becomes a women usually before the first menstrual period is consider something that must be done. Most areas of Africa and many parts of the Middle Eastern such as Yemen, Saudi Arabia and parts of Asia are for it because it’s told to be a part of their traditional practice. It’s been part of tradition for hundreds of years. The history of FGM is not well known but has been dated back at least 2,000 years. Where or when it originated from is unknown but is believed to have been done in ancient Egypt, some believing it started during slavery trade, and practice developed independently among certain ethnic groups. Overall, it’s considered a rite of passage for young females that ensures virginity. Families that had practice this tradition fear that ladies in the family (daughter’s) may not be married if uncircumcised and that not doing so might bring shame to family by being sexually active and might get pregnant before marriage. Going through FGM is their belief that will and does ensure a woman’s virginity and it does reduce sexual desires. The Practice is supported by traditional beliefs, values and attitudes. FMG is practiced by Islam, Christianity, Animists and other religions. Muslims are one of the groups who religiously do not participate in the acts of FGM. The Holy Koran and Holy Bible do not prescribe or enforce the practice of FGM therefore it is the reason the Muslims are against it. Tradition plays a big role on how many people live their lifestyle.
The tradition does not adapt to changes as a result of outside influences of their culture. It’s a belief that existed for a long time. It’s a habit that’s considered tradition and is practiced over and over (one every 15 seconds, at least 2 two million infants, girl-children and women). If people are brought up believing that it is a way of life, the main justifications that they follow is morality, virginity, honor and must be done for marriage and told to be a way ladies will be ‘faithful’ wives to their husbands. It’s been done for so long that it’s going to be practiced depending on how strong a person stands for their traditional …show more content…
values. The medical problem with Female Circumcision is that having this procedure done doesn’t take place in a medical facility in a sterile field. This causes a female to have excessive bleeding, severe pain, and infections such as Tetanus that could result in death or long term complications including scarring, trouble urinating and menstrual period complications. It also leads to chronic urinary tract infection, shock, pelvic and back pain that could also result in painful sex and infertility. In some cases a female will have trouble with pregnancy and delivery due to the virginal area sewn up that puts them at high risk of so many infections that cause health problems that could prolong into life changing issues. The World Health Organization is focusing on medical care and counseling for people who have to live with FGM and building evidence such as the complication of risks to a female’s body. The clitoris is the part of the female that should not be mutilated because it has no medical reason to be removed or altered and FGM is highly unnecessary. It’s a part of the tissue that in naturally attached to a female body at birth. Even though Female Circumcision is done as part of tradition in different parts of the world it’s still considered illegal. The United States and many other countries subscribe to FGM as illegal and a violation of women rights and a form of abuse on children. FGM is going against a person’s right to make decisions concerning their own wellbeing because the females don’t have that choice to say no and FGM is done without a consent of agreement. FGM is done in a private clinic or in the home. The Doctor or other professional healthcare provider who performs the procedure has no training of how it should be done correctly. It would put the patient at risk of many infections, basically being that it is not done in a medical setting. It is against the law to do this kind of procedure there forth it is not taught in the licensing of a doctor. And when a doctor does perform FGM, they are putting their license as a doctor at risk to be revoked. A physician goes through three sets of value conflicts which are that include breaking the law, going against their personal values and the unfamiliar values of their patients. The cost of FGM is less than an eye surgery and would range from nothing to the amount of 2,00o dollars in Africa.
It’s a crime in the United States under section 116 of Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. The United Nations have declared the elimination of FGM through policies that include education, empowerment of women and is enforced by the law. Most countries that commonly perform it don’t have laws the prohibit FGM. And if a country does enforcement it, it’s often weak. Africa doesn’t take FGM as a serious actions against the law. A person who performs FGM in Africa could be fine up to 50 dollars and three years in prison. The laws against it aren’t as serious as if it’s done in the United States and other parts of the United
Nations. Personally my opinion on the female circumcision done on the young girls before they enter the stage of adult-hood which happens after the first menstrual period shouldn’t be done. It needs to stay against the law and needs to be set straight as a wrongful doing especially in the places that have a high rate of this practice. I believe that everyone no matter what age, or background they come from and even no discrimination of what ethic they come from that the opinion of what is being done to their body should be their choice for themselves after the legal age of an adult. An individual should have the right to say no. A female clitoris area shouldn’t be sewn up because tradition says it has to be done. This is the twentieth century and tradition is slowly getting done away with culture being carried on. No one should be held against their will to do something as dangerous as cutting off parts of the body that could basically lead to long term effects and even cause death. I stand against it and think that the government needs to work harder with other countries that don’t take it seriously as important as other major situations and just because it’s been carried on through tradition doesn’t mean it doesn’t stand against rights of an individual. Being brought up and having strong belief in my traditional cultures as a Navajo. Having respect for our own bodies is a value that stands strong and well as having respect for your surrounding such as resources, others and life. To not be given the option of your clitoris being cut because it’s been done traditionally and followed for many years doesn’t mean that should be done. The massive effect of an FGM performed is that the patient would immediately have an excessive amount of bleeding and live with long term effects of many problems that could complicate fertility and childbirth. Long term complications could easily be avoided if it is not performed at any point in the female’s lifespan.
Despite its popularity in Africa, FGM is under scrutiny by members of the international human rights community. In 1993, female circumcision was deemed harmful by the international Human Rights Conference in Vienna . The World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the UN Population Fund have planned programs designed to “completely eliminate [female genital mutilation] within three generations” , on the basis that FGM is a human rights violation. This gives rise to the obvious question as to whether human rights activists and organizations should be sensitive to the cultural practices of the people of Africa. Some human rights activists have even professed FGM as a “knock-down counterargument to cultural relativism”, and use the practice as an example of how hum...
Everyone dreams of the day they will meet their children. From a young age, you can hear people saying the plans and desires they have for their future boy or girl. Our society is constructed in such a manner that everything operates under this male-female dichotomy. However, this system of operation is not always applicable. Cases where this is evident is when intersex babies are born. Intersex babies are born with genitalia that do not pertain entirely to either males or females, hence the term, intersex. Parents are unsure of what to think about their child. What should they name it? What colors shall they dress them in? Will they raise it as a boy or a girl? They are consumed with questions that are normally answered by assignation to a sex category.
A hot button issue in our society over the years has been the topic of male and female circumcision. This issue has been portrayed in both ethical and political paradigms. “It is estimated that about 30% of males are circumcised worldwide for religious, cultural, and health reasons, most of whom live in major parts of the Middle East, Central Asia, West Africa and Israel, as well as in the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand,” according to Demuth (1). Male circumcision is the medical process of the removal of the foreskin that covers the head of the penis. In continuation, the article “Prevalence of Female Genital Cutting among Egyptian Girls,” estimates that between “100 and 130 million girls and women now alive in at least 28 African countries and the Middle East have been subjected to female circumcision or female genital mutilation (FGM)” stated by Tag-Eldin (3). The female genital mutilation is a bit different than a male’s circumcision, generally consisting of three types. “Type 1 is the removal of the clitoris, Type 2 is the removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, and Type 3 is the removal of all parts of the external genitalia, which includes: the clitoris, the labia minora/majora, and then sewing the rest of the tissues,” according to Pauls (4). The origin of circumcision is currently unknown, but according to the article “Circumcision”, there is a theory that in Ancient Egypt, Egyptians men were circumcised and eliminated all of their body hair for probably hygienic reasons. In addition, in the “Book of the Dead” it describes the sun god, Ra, to have circumcised himself (40). This suggests that it may have also been for religious reasons.
Female genital mutilation (also known as female circumcision) is the cutting of female clitoral hood and removing clitoris. Following the cutting of female genital organ, there are many short-term and long-term health risk problems, and even death due to some complicated infections. The reasons for performing female genital mutilation are connected with socio-cultural beliefs, attitudes, values and customs, transition of girls into womanhood, tradition and cultural heritage, the fear of not having access to resources and opportunities as a young woman, perception to reduce sexual desire of females; hence, will sustain premarital virginity, and maintain marital fidelity. Actions have taken at international, national and regional levels since the past many years and have begun to bear fruits, but the practice is still undergoing in many countries in the world and highly prevalent in Africa. To continue and motivate further reduction in changing the society’s attitudes towards female genital mutilation in the countries where the prevalence has remained stable so it’s therefor...
Females as a general population have been faced with discrimination across the ages. In recent history, women have begun to assert their freedom and independence from the male oriented traditions that have spanned generations. In industrialized countries the discrimination of women has diminished, but a serious form of violation of human rights occurs sometimes in parts of the world, such as Africa, the Middle East, and even sometimes the United States and other industrialized countries in North America and Europe. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an umbrella term for three subtypes of crimes committed against women as a part of various coming of age rituals for young girls in certain patriarchal communities in Africa, spreading through migration of a populace through Northeastern and Western Africa and some spread into the Middle Eastern countries. These communities integrated this practice into women through marriage into these cultures, spreading this practice into their daughters and so forth. FGM has been classified by the World Health Organization (WHO) into three basic subtypes, each growing more and more disturbing. Subtype number one is a clitoridectomy which is the complete or partial removal of the clitoris, while subtype two it includes the clitoridectomy plus the removal of the labia minora of the young girl. Alone, these two types of FGM composed approximately 90 percent of female genital mutilation. The third subtype is the most gruesome that is the narrowing the vagina opening by sealing the orifice with the use of the labia majora. These medical procedures have been described the WHO working in conjunction with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Un...
culture, they only serve to be wed and bear children. When women are growing up one of the
According to the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, “state parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that the child is protected against all forms of discrimination or punishment on the basis of the status, activities, expressed opinions, or beliefs of the child’s parents, legal guardians, or family members”(1). It is generally believed that the fundamental rights of every human being should be respected; but unfortunately that’s not the case with FGM. Children are made to past this ordeal at an early age. A child as young as 10 years or even younger is subjected to this inhuman act without seeking her consent or most times telling flimsy stories to subdue her infant mind. On the other hand, the perpetrators believe that the child is too young to decide and being parents automatically places them in the rightful position to decide her faith. Contrary to that notion, is the provision in article three (3) of the same UN convention which states that “[i]n all actions concerning the ch...
Change. A word that frightens our culture. People are afraid of change because they are comfortable with tradition. Most people have been taught that tradition is something that is not revised; moreover, people are apprehensive to change tradition. Lemony Snicket once said, “Just because something is traditional is no reason to do it, of course.” Change in one’s life can relate to anything. With culture and society constantly progressing in many directions, more and more topics are being discussed and questioned. Religion marks a significant role in constant controversy over traditional topics. Certain topics are being debated because people are beginning to think like Lemony Snicket: what is the reason behind these traditions? Celibacy is defined as the state of being unmarried and/or sexually abstinent by choice, especially for religious reasons. It is demonstrated as a vow for men becoming Catholic priests.
Rites of passage, specifically circumcision, are the focus of study for multiple theorists. Circumcision as a ritual of passage encompasses various theories on the function of these ritualistic passages. Arnold Van Gennep, Vincent Crapanzano, and Victor Turner each approach the ritual of circumcisions’ function differently, specifically they question whether the ritual can be considered in stages.
It is hard to determine the direct origin of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Some researchers believe Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) originated in either ancient Egypt, Ethiopia, or Greece during the fifth century BC (Nawal, 2008, pp. 135-139. See the corresponding section. However, presently, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is performed on millions of young girls and women (Rahman, 2006). Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) occurs in Africa, Europe, Australia, Canada, and in the United States (Mascia-Lees 2010, pp.
Because marriages lead to family, they are a ‘social necessity’. Plus, since sexual relations are forbidden before marriage, it is the Muslim society’s only way to ‘intimacy’. During the early- Islamic years, weddings were arranged: women had no say regarding whom they married; relatives would fix the ceremony for them. In addition, although it was discouraged, men were given the right to polygamy: they were allowed to marry up to four women, as long as they could support and treat them equally. On the other hand, women were not allowed to do so; they were to stay faithful to the one
Of course, it has more to do things other than tradition, it has to do with the economic gain these marriages can bring to the families involved. It can be as simple as that to some communities, giving your daughter's hand in marriage in exchange for financial gain. That being said, those families involved in this practice (typically those in third world world, or developing countries,) are not willing to give up this practice if it involves giving up a significant source of income. So, the real question boils down to
Many question whether female circumcision (FGM, genital cutting, etc.) is a form of abuse, is it a humane and morally acceptable practice and how can we fix this horrendous practice? These assumptive thoughts are typically made through the eyes of outsiders, female circumcision is many things and must be looked at through such a lens. Despite, all of this female circumcision is still framed very commonly between these three views, female circumcision is abuse, is a result of patriarchal societies, and is a cultural and religious practice.
In my culture a male owns a girl until she is dead. First she has to obey everything her father says and then she has to obey her husband. The women are supposed to basically worship the men. If the men want sex she cannot say no to him. Women cannot express her sexuality openly like a man can. I also think that the clitoris is seen as inferior to the penis. Women are there so that men can gain sexual desire from them.
Female genital mutilation is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as "all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons". The practice is more prevalent in countries with limited health care facilities and limited resources for health research. Current estimates reveal that approximately 100-140 million African women have undergone some form of FGM worldwide. Each year another 3 million are at risk just in Africa. FGM is practiced globally as a result of immigration, but is most prevalent on the continent of Africa. The majority of cases are recorded to be within a group of twenty-eight African countries. In countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan rates reach as right as ninety-eight of the female population. Its prevalence has been estimated at 61% in Lower Egypt and 97% in Upper Egypt. (El-Gibaly)