Female Genital Mutilation Female genital mutilation is the partial or total removal of female external genitalia, which include the clitoris, labias, fatty tissue over the pubic bone, and vaginal and urethral openings. These set of acts are considered to be part of a traditional ritual in many parts of the world. This kind of practice cause serious damage to the female genital organs for non medical or cultural reasons (WHO 2010). FGM considered being a form of child abuse and which is against the law in some countries. ‘Female Genital mutilation Act 2003 (England, Wales and Nothern Ireland) and the prohibition of female genital mutilation Act 2005 (Scotland). The topic of my research paper mainly focused on the cause and the effects of FGM on the physical and mental health of a woman. To explain about my research on Female Genital Mutilation, I have organized my paper into four main sections. In the first section I provide information about the prevalence, in the second section I discuss about the procedures of FGM and its classification from WHO, in the third I provide details about the complications the women and the society face and at last I end my paper with the human rights and conclusion of my research work. PREVALANCE The estimation of the girls and the women who have undergone female circumcision is approximately between 100-140 millions and 3 million young girls undergoing FGM each year It is practiced in 28 African countries and in South East Asia and has reached the Middle East too. Djibouti, Egypt, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan are the countries showing the highest rate of 90% and more. Eritrea and Mali shows around 80% prevalence. It is found in most part of Europe, Australia, Canada, Engl... ... middle of paper ... ...e consequences are either short or long- term depending on the type of FGM practiced on the individual.” CONCLUSION Female Genital Mutilation is a brutal process, which can lead to severe complications. The negative effects on mental and physical health are very severe which can even lead to death. There are no advantages of this procedures proved until now. According to law FGM is considered as child abuse and a violation of human rights. The prevalence of this female genital circumcision is spreading around the world causing a major issue in the society. “Efua Dorkenoo (1994) in the work of (forward 2002) states female genital mutilation is a clear demonstration of gender-based human rights violation, which intends to control women’s sexuality and freedom. Internationally the practice is recognized as a form of torture and violence against women and girls.”
Female genital mutilation is mostly practiced in Islamic and African cultures, claiming young girls as t...
the deities and attempt to explain the psychological necessity of these rituals. An examination will be made of the typical forms of rituals, and cite their effects,
To explore, we will compare how the effect on patriarchal society affected each of the women in
Today, 85 to 114 million girls and women in more than 30 countries have been subjected to FGM. Female genital mutilation has long been performed to ensure chaste or monogamous behaviour by suppressing female sexuality. It is commonly -- although erroneously -- attributed to religious edict. In fact, neither Islam nor Christianity officially sanctions it.
...rvices as a cause of the sexual attitudes, patterns and trends existent in society today. Undoubtedly, a multitude of wider factors are to blame. The extent of availability has also been deemed a weakness due to potential health complications. However, no medical advance or regulation reform can rid a procedure of risk. From looking at the strengths of the approach, it is clear that regulations inflict little disruption on the lives of patients. Most importantly, the British approach to abortion eliminates any desire or need to undergo an unsafe termination. Changing regulations in regards to restrictions of abortions may undermine this strength which may cause the re-emergence of high maternal mortality rates. Therefore, the strengths overpower any of the aforementioned weaknesses. The British approach to the regulation of abortion is in no serious need of reform.
Female genital circumcision (FGC) is a cultural ritual that is performed to the vast majority of women within the countries of Sudan, Kenya, Mali, Benin, Togo, and parts of the Middle East. Female genital circumcision also termed as female genital mutilation is used based upon a person’s beliefs. This ritual has been highly controversial for many years especially in the western society, due to the health risks that women may have to go through. Doctor Gruenbaum, and anthropologist who studied FGC in Sudan, has researched this topic and believes that outsiders need to have an open mind about diverse cultures. I believe that this procedure should not be illegal; however, education about the risks of the procedure should be enforced in the countries where this takes place, in order to create a safer environment for the ritual to be performed in. The goal of this essay is to know what Female Genital Circumcision is and different types of FGC and why this is performed and why it is important for outsiders to not have ethnocentric views when dealing with this. This essay also deals with why it should be medicalized instead of enforcing laws to ban this years long tradition in all African countries. When challenging female genital circumcision, we are also challenging the people who perform this procedure, their culture, values and beliefs.
Girls who are circumcised are more likely to be limited in their adolescent exploration thus forming a type of oppression from normal teenage activities. It is essential for teenagers to discover their own bodies and explore their sexuality in order to form a sense of self, this does not imply that young teenagers should commit sexual acts, exploring simply implies that teenagers should know their body and its functions, young women should know their own bodies including their own genitalia especially when females begin their first menstrual cycle. However, later in a female's young adult life sexual acts should not be the taboo subject that it is. Instead women should embrace their sexual life, “FGM is carried out as a way to control women’s sexuality, which is sometimes said to be insatiable if parts of the genitalia, especially the clitoris, are not removed. It is thought to ensure virginity before marriage and fidelity afterward, and to increase male sexual pleasure.” (UNFPA), female circumcision is used in order to deprive women from their sexuality. Female circumcision is no more than a way to control woman, because of this teenagers who have undergone female circumcision are being forced to submit to religious believes that they themselves may not agree with, “The controversial tradition of FGC sets these immigrants apart from the mainstream culture and may complicate their efforts to adjust to life in the United States and cause intergenerational conflict in some families. For instance, parents may consider it important for their daughters to be cut, regardless of the girls’ wishes, as a way to maintain their identity with the family and its cultural community of origin.” (Akinsulure-Smith 358). The effect of being a circumcised female in adolescence in the Unites States is greater than
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an ancient traditional non-therapeutic surgical procedure that involves total or partial removal of the external parts of female genitalia. This paper aimed to define and classify FGM, identifies the prevalence, describes reasons for performing the practice, and concentrates on the problems associated to this practice with regard to women’s health, religious beliefs, and socio-cultural, behavioral and moral consequences. Researches and survey reports that the global actions have been taken to reduce or abolish the prevalence of the practice will be assessed.
2. FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION: AN INTRODUCTION. National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers FGM Awareness and Education Project. Box 2512 San Anselmo, CA 94979
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has had different definitions in the ‘Scientific World’ and the world of those who embrace the act. According to the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO), Female Genital Mutilation is the act of removing the external parts of the female genitalia, partially or totally for non-medical reasons (WHO) whereas the practitioners see it as the cutting of “extra skin tags” of the female’s reproductive organ. Various reasons have been put forward to support it, ranging from social, cultural and religious reasons, mainly in the so called Islamic communities. FGM is a violation of the rights of the girl child, causes health implications and drastically disempowers the sexuality of women.
dangerous for the body, and can many times lead to being very ill or death.
In Searching for “Voices”: Feminism, Anthropology, and the Global Debates over Female Genital Operations, Walley discusses the social issues concerning female genital operations as perceived by “westerners”, as well as discusses her ethnographic account of female circumcision. Her main purpose of doing this was to lay the groundwork for “a more productive feminist and anthropological debate” capable of going beyond the binary terms in which female circumcisions are usually discussed. Since female circumcisions are known by a variety of names, such as female genital mutilation and female genital torture, and with her understanding of the negative connotation often associated with those varieties of names, Walley makes the decision to adopt the term female genital operations instead. In 1988, Walley went in the village of KiKhome, in western Kenya as an English teacher and immersed herself in the lives of the people living around the village to better understand the practice of female genital operations as an outsider. One day, some of her students invited her to assist at a female genital operation ceremony. She found out that the participants see circumcision as a rite of passage into adulthood. However, she truly wanted to know the participants’ personal views on the topic rather than the imposed views of their parents and their culture. The four women she interviewed told her that “their custom was good,” and it was something that a person needs to accept with her whole being not to feel the pain. Nevertheless, some of the women told her that they would not want their daughters to undergo circumcision, and that they themselves regretted having done the procedure. Walley finally gave up “searching for real voices,” because what t...
It is hard to determine the direct origins of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Some researchers believes Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) originated in either ancient Egypt, Ethiopia, or Greece during the fifth century BC (Nawal, 2008, pp. 135-139). 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. 66-68). Furthermore, there are four types of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) procedure. Type 1 hood of skin that sits over the clitoris (prepuce) is removed, type 2 the entire clitoris is removed, type 3 the external genitals are partly or totally removed and the wound stitched together, and type 4 is other practices including piercing, cauterizing, scraping or using corrosive substances designed to scar and narrow the vagina (anonymous 2014).
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.
There is widespread belief in a supreme God, unique and transcendent. Africans have a sense of the sacred and sense of mystery; there is high reverence for sacred places, persons and objects; sacred times are celebrated. Belief in the after life is incorporated in myths and in funeral ceremonies. Religion enfolds the whole of life; there is a difference between life and religion. Ancestors mediate between God and men. It is believed that sin harms the public good; hence there are periodical purification rites in order to promote public welfare. Worship requires a fundamental attitude of strict discipline and reverence.