The Horror of Female Genital Mutilation
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fe·male gen·i·tal mu·ti·la·tion
noun: female genital mutilation; plural noun: female genital mutilations; noun: female genital cutting; plural noun: female circumcision.
- Partially or totally removing the external genitalia of girls and young women for non-medical reasons. It is illegal in many countries. Female Genital Mutilation is a destructive operation, during which the female genitals are partly or entirely removed or injured. Most often the mutilation is performed before puberty, often on girls between the age of four and eight, but recently it is increasingly performed on nurslings who are only a couple of days, weeks or months old.
Why????????????????
The goal is to inhibit a woman’s sexual feelings. In some cultures, there is a belief that female genitalia are unsightly and dirty, unmutilated women are regarded as unclean and are not allowed to handle food and water. Also often deemed necessary in order for a girl to be considered a complete woman, and the practice marks the divergence of the sexes in terms of their future roles in life and marriage. The removal of the clitoris and labia — viewed by some as the “male parts” of a woman’s body — is thought to enhance the girl’s femininity, often synonymous with docility and obedience.
How Prevalent is Female Genital Mutilation?
The goal is to inhibit a woman’s sexual feelings. In some cultures, there is a belief that female genitalia are unsightly and dirty, unmutilated women are regarded as unclean and are not allowed to handle food and water. Also often deemed necessary in order for a girl to be considered a complete woman, and the practice marks the divergence of the sexes in terms of their future roles in life and marriage. The removal of the clitoris and labia — viewed by some as the “male parts” of a woman’s body — is thought to enhance the girl’s femininity, often synonymous with docility and obedience.
How Prevalent is Female Genital Mutilation?
More than 125 million girls and women alive today have been cut in the 29 countries in Africa and Middle East where FGM is concentrated (1). The practice is most common in the western, eastern, and north-eastern regions of Africa, in some countries in Asia and the Middle East, and among migrants from these areas.
Does FGM happen in the United States?
As of February 1, 2015, the number of women and girls at risk for female genital mutilation (FGM) in the United States has more than doubled in the past 10 years, according to new figures released on Friday. The data, the first on FGM in the U.S. for a decade, is being published to coincide with the United Nations’ International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM.
More than half a million women and girls in the U.S. are at risk of undergoing FGM in the U.S. or abroad, or have already undergone the procedure, including 166,173 under the age of 18, according to the Population Reference Bureau (PRB). Immigration to the U.S. from African and Middle Eastern countries—where the practice of FGM is a deeply entrenched cultural tradition—is the sole factor for the rise in numbers, says Mark Mather, a demographer at PRB who led the data analysis. There has not been an increase in the practice happening in the U.S. itself, he says.
The Effects of FGM
Immediate consequences of FGM include severe pain and bleeding, shock, difficulty in passing urine, infections, injury to nearby genital tissue and sometimes death. The procedure can result in death through severe bleeding leading to hemorrhagic shock, neurogenic shock as a result of pain and trauma, and overwhelming infection and septicemia.
When giving birth, the scar tissue might tear, or the opening needs to be cut to allow the baby to come out. After childbirth, women from some ethnic communities are often sown up again to make them “tight” for their husband (reinfibulation). Such cutting and restitching of a woman’s genitalia results in painful scar tissue.
The Procedure
No gloves are worn during the operation. The procedure is usually performed without anesthesia and under catastrophic hygienic circumstances. Knives, scissors, razor blades or pieces of broken glass are used as instruments among others.
The Effects of FGM
Immediate consequences of FGM include severe pain and bleeding, shock, difficulty in passing urine, infections, injury to nearby genital tissue and sometimes death. The procedure can result in death through severe bleeding leading to hemorrhagic shock, neurogenic shock as a result of pain and trauma, and overwhelming infection and septicemia.
When giving birth, the scar tissue might tear, or the opening needs to be cut to allow the baby to come out. After childbirth, women from some ethnic communities are often sown up again to make them “tight” for their husband (reinfibulation). Such cutting and restitching of a woman’s genitalia results in painful scar tissue.
No gloves are worn during the operation. The procedure is usually performed without anesthesia and under catastrophic hygienic circumstances. Knives, scissors, razor blades or pieces of broken glass are used as instruments among others.
Mad?? You should be, this shit is real. It's all about global Motherhood. We are the Keepers of our Brother's and Sister's; however, I don't know how to help other than donating money or bringing awareness to all the madness. I must say that I feel quite helpless.
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Sources: http://www.desertflowerfoundation.org/en/what-is-fgm/
http://www.endfgm.eu/en/female-genital-mutilation/what-is-fgm/why-is-it-practised/
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