FGC has traditionally been called "female circumcision," in the belief that it is similar to male circumcision. As awareness has grown of the harmful effects of the practice the term female genital mutilation came to be used to distinguish it from male circumcision.  However, the term mutilation is considered offensive to some women; therefore, other terms such as "female genital cutting" (FGC) have increasingly been used.

The origins of the practice are unclear. FGM has been a part of many different societies over the centuries.  It predates the rise of Christianity and Islam. The practice is mentioned in association with Pharaonic times, as well as the Phoenicians, the Hittites and the Ethiopians. It is also reported that circumcision was practiced in tropical zones of Africa, in the Philippines, by the Incas in Mexico, by certain tribes in the Upper Amazon, in Australia by women of the Arunta tribe, and by the early Romans and Arabs. Up until the 1950s, clitoridectomy was even practiced in Western Europe and the United States to treat 'disorders' in women including hysteria, epilepsy, mental disorders, masturbation, nymphomania, depression and lesbianism.

Given that the procedure is involves blood loss and is performed with crude instruments and one instrument may be used for several girls, the risk of HIV/AIDS transmission is increased by the practice. Also, the damage to the female sexual organs may also increase risk during sexual intercourse due to potential lacerations of tissues, and childbirth.