Female Genital Mutilation......
About 140 million women are currently living with the consequences of this mutilation. It involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organ for non-medical reasons.
Cultural ,religious and social causes......
The causes of female genital mutilation include a mix of cultural ,religious and social factors...
- Where FGM is a social convention, the social pressure to conform with what others do and have been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate the practice.
- FGM is often considered a necessary part of raising a girl properly and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage.
- It is often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behavior linking procedures to premarital virginity and marital fidelity. In many communities, FGM is believed to reduce a woman's libido and therefore believed to help her resist ''illicit'' sexual acts...
- It is usually associated with cultural ideals of femininity and modesty,which include the notion that girls are ''clean'' and ''beautiful'' after removal of body parts that are considered ''male'' or ''unclean''.
- Though no religious scripts presume the practice,practitioners believe the practice has religious support.
Here is an illustration of the different types of Female Genital Mutilation and how they differ....
The WHO divides FGM into four categories . Around 85 percent of women experiences Types 1 and 11,and 15 percent Type 111.
Type 1 is the removal of the clitoral hood (1a), which is rarely performed alone; or the partial or total removal of the clitoris, a clitoridectomy (Type 1b).
Type 11 often called excision,is the partial or total removal of the clitoris and the inner labia or outer labia. Type 11a is the removal of the inner labia only; Type 11b,partial or total removal of the clitoris and the inner labia; Type 11c, partial or total removal of the clitoris ,and the inner and outer labia.
Type 111,commonly known as infibulation, is the removal of all the external genitalia. The inner and outer labia are cut away ,with or without excision of the clitoris. Martha Nussbaum writes that Type 111 accounts for 80-90 percent of all such procedures in countries such as Sudan,Somalia and Djibout.
After the procedure, the girls legs are tied together from hip to ankle for 15-40 days to allow the wound to heal. The immobility causes the labial tissue to bond, forming a wall of flesh and skin across the vulva,apart from a hole the size of a matchstick for the passage of urine and menstrual blood, which is created by inserting a twig or rock salt into the wound. There is another form of Type 111 called matwasat,where the stitching of the vulva is less extreme and the hole is left bigger.
Prevalence.....
Caldwell, Orubuloye and Caldwell write that 80 - 88 percent of women in Africa who have experienced FGM live in sub-Saharan Africa,51 percent in West Africa and 27 percent in Nigeria.
The highest prevalence rates are Somalia (97.9 percent of women), Egypt (95.8 percent), Guinea (95.6 percent) , Sierra Leone (94 percent), Djibout (93.1 percent), Mali (91.6 percent) and Eritrea (88.7 percent). culled from Caldwell,John C;Orubuloye,I.O and Caldwell,Pat. ''Female Genital Mutilation: Conditions of decline''Population Research and review, 19(3), June 2000 (pp. 233-254), p. 235.
This practice is cruel and barbaric and must not be encouraged in our homes....I wouldn't allow anyone do this to my daughter..you shouldn't!
Parents and guardians must remember that FGM has no single health benefit,but is always harmful. It has no basis in religion as is erroneously thought,it does not even discourage female promiscuity, but often condemns the woman to sexual frustration when married.
We all must protect our female children by strictly steering clear from female circumcision. We must allow them enjoy a healthy sexual life .....
SAY NO TO THIS BARBARIC ACT!! Say no the sharp cutting objects!!!...............*winks*
Living Healthy!!!!!!
Great job Niki, school us well. As much as we might shrug at this thinking its a thing of the past, it still goes on in certain communities in Nigeria. IT HAS TO STOP.
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