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Female Genital MutilationFemale Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a destructive, invasive procedure that is usually performed on girls before puberty. Part or all of the clitoris is surgically removed. This leaves them with reduced or no sexual feeling. Orgasms are sometimes impossible to experience later in life. Many health problems result from the surgery. FGM originated in Africa. It was, and remains, a cultural, not a religious practice. Among individuals and groups opposed to the mutilation, it is seen as a method of reducing the sexual response of women in order to make them less likely to become sexually active before marriage or to seek an extra-marital affair after marriage. To some who promote the operation, it is seen as a cultural requirement that has health benefits and makes women more physically beautiful. These views are not shared by the rest of the world. The operation is forced on approximately 6,000 girls per day, worldwide -- about one every 15 seconds. Since FGM is practiced when the girls are young, they are unable to give their informed consent. FGM: A cultural not a religious practice:This mutilating operation is often associated mainly with the religion of Islam. This is incorrect. FGM is primarily a social practice, not a religious one. Female genital mutilation predates Islam. It originated in Africa and remains today a mainly African cultural practice. Some indicators of this are:
One of the motivations for this essay is the misperception by many people that the practice is a religious one. That belief has led to unjustified religious intolerance against Muslims. Nawal El-Saadawi, a Muslim victim of infibulation, stated: Nawal El-Saadawi, "The Hidden Face of Eve, Women in the Arab World," translated and edited by Sherif Hetata, Zed Press, London, 1980, P. 33. the above information is an excerpt of the
article on FGM from:
Every year several million women approach childbirth knowing that the risk will be greater because some or all of their genitalia has been cut away by the traditional practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). Approximately 2 million girls are mutilated every year. Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, and the Sudan account for 75% of all cases. In Djibouti and Somalia, 98% of girls are mutilated. Apart from the immediate fear and pain, the consequences can include prolonged bleeding, infection, infertility, and death. For those who suffer infibulation – the severest form of FGM in which all external sexual organs are cut away – the trauma of recutting is repeated with each new birth to allow passage of the baby. Both moderate and severe forms increase the risks of childbirth. Mutilation is not required by any religion. It is a tradition designed to preserve virginity, ensure marriageability, and contain sexuality. As the table shows, several African governments have begun to move against the practice. So far, only Ghana has translated policy into law. The Government of Burkina Faso, which has actively campaigned against FGM since 1990 through its National Anti-Excision Committee, has escalated its work in the past three years as the result of increased national support: law cases involving deaths caused by FGM have been brought to court under existing criminal laws. Usually inflicted on girls aged 4 to 12, FGM is one of the worst violations of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The 1990s have seen growing pressures against the practice from women's groups, human rights organizations, child welfare groups, and professional organizations. Action has also been taken in some industrialized countries with significant numbers of African refugees or immigrant groups. In 1994, Australia and Norway joined Sweden and the United Kingdom in passing laws against FGM. As of December 1995, bills to make FGM a criminal offence were before the US Congress and the Canadian Parliament. Africa: the FGM record Estimates of the numbers and percentages of
women who suffer female genital mutilation
Source: oooooooooops, forgot the site i got this info from ;-( |
