Female genital mutilation, also called FGM or female circumcision, is a horrific practice conducted in countries throughout the world, mostly in Africa. The women who undergo FGM typically do so without any anesthesia of any type and without any real explanation of what is happening to them. Female circumcision is a ritualized practice in many places with the girls given little information from village elders.
What is Female Genital Mutilation?
In short, FGM is the cutting off of parts of the outer female reproductive organs. In the tamest cases, FGM means cutting only a small portion of the labia major or a clitoridectomy, the cutting off of the clitoris. In more extreme cases, older women in the village cut off the entire outer portion of a woman’s reproductive system and then sew the vaginal opening shut with thread or twine. In most places where female genital mutilation occurs, the purpose is to assure virginity until a girl is married. In many places, the ritual is carried out at a time when the village women see a girl beginning to make the transition to womanhood, though this transition may occur as young as eight years old.
Does FGM Occur Only in Africa?
While FGM does not occur only in Africa, most of the known cases happen there. In some African countries, female circumcision is still legal, while in others it is illegal but carried out in secrecy. In many places in Africa, most people live in tribes, and each tribe has its own rituals. Many of these rituals for girls and women involve the annual cutting of the vaginas of the girls. Because this practice is an ingrained cultural one, little progress has been made, despite official efforts in some countries, to stop the practice completely.
What Are the Health Effects of FGM?
FGM greatly affects health in Africa. Sexual problems exist in large numbers there. Many girls get infections when the procedure is first done because of the lack of any kind of antiseptic. The unavailability of antibiotics contributes to the poor health in Africa of women who undergo FGM. Rates of death in childbirth are particularly high there, in part because of the long-term effects of the procedure.
Female genital mutilation is a painful and harmful practice, though many people in places where the practice is common see nothing wrong with it. Activists in many of these nations are working to stop FGM and have had some success. Others, though, are meeting with strong resistance.
