| Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the term used to describe “all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic reasons” [WHO, 2000]. It is also sometimes referred to as "female genital cutting" or "female circumcision." |
| |
| FGM types |
|
There are three main types of FGM practiced today, which range in severity. The World Health Organization defines these three types as follows[1]:
- Type I or Clitoridectomy: Excision (removal) of the clitoral hood with or without removal of the clitoris.
- Type II or Excision: Removal of the clitoris together with part or all of the labia minora.
- Type III or Infibulation: Removal of part or all of the external genitalia (clitoris, labia minora, and labia majora) and stitching and/or narrowing of the vaginal opening.
|
| FGM health consequences |
| The short- and long-term health consequences of FGM generally depend on the type and severity of the procedure performed. Potential harms include psychological trauma, severe pain, difficulties during childbirth, gynecological problems, damage to the urethra, painful sexual intercourse and sexual dysfunction, and bleeding and infection which can lead to shock or death. |
| |
| Who performs FGM? |
| FGM is usually performed by a traditional practitioner using crude instruments and without anesthetic. As governments and communities’ awareness of the potential harms of FGM has increased, there has been a growing demand for the practice to be performed by trained health personnel, including physicians, nurses and midwives. However, this medicalization of FGM has been condemned by the World Health Organization because it perpetuates and endorses FGM rather than working to eliminate the practice. |
| |
| FGM justifications |
|
In societies where FGM is practiced, there are various justifications offered for having the procedure performed, including:
- psychosexual reasons: to control or to reduce girls’ and women’s sexual desire so that she is chaste and remains a virgin until marriage and faithful during marriage, and to increase male sexual pleasure;
- sociological reasons: cultural tradition, rite of passage of girls into womanhood, to ensure girls’ ability to get married and protect the family’s reputation;
- hygiene and aesthetic reasons: to clean and beautify the external female genitalia which are considered dirty and unsightly, to stop the clitoris from continuing to grow as the girls gets older;
- superstitions: to enhance fertility and promote child survival (there is a belief that the external genitalia are unclean and can actually cause the death of an infant during delivery);
- religious reasons: FGM has been incorrectly associated with religion. Some Muslim communities practice FGC because they believe that it is demanded by the Islamic faith. The practice, however, predates Islam. It is not performed in many Muslim countries, and in those countries where it is common, people of different religions practice it.
|
| When FGM is performed? |
| The age at which girls undergo FGM varies from area to area. While FGM is performed on infants as well as women on the verge of marriage, it is most often performed on those between the ages of 4 and 12 years. It is estimated that between 100 and 140 million worldwide have been ‘cut’. Approximately 2 million females are subjected to this practice each year worldwide[2]. |
| |
| Where is FGM practiced? |
FGC is most widely practiced in 28 African countries. However, there are also some countries in Asia and the Middle East where it is also practiced. In the Arab World Region FGM is mainly found in Djibouti, Egypt, the Republic of Yemen, Oman, Somalia, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates.
|
| |
|
|
| |
|