Female Genital Mutilation

It’s your 5th sumptuous birthday and you are just dancing with happiness and joy as your own
mom or family members have told that you are going to get your best surprise of your life.
Your mom asked you to get ready as there are taking you to your surprise, you unknown to
the whole situation go get ready and then you with your family move ahead to a dark place
with almost no light and suddenly your mom just grab you as hard as it crushes your soul
and hands and some other females of the family forcefully lay you down. Suddenly an old
woman comes towards you with a blade and she just grab and cut your genital organs. You
are crying for help but nobody listens to you. Crying in pain, no body is there for you. Just
approximate the impact of that on your life. You will be in grave depression. So, for now
being you must be taking it as a sad story but what if I say this is happening almost every
single day in many parts of world in great silence. The opposite way to abstain a girl from
pre-marital sex is by cutting her genital but not by educating and mentoring her? Just because
of the silence of a girl, gives them all the rights not to consider her a human?
Female Genital Mutilation is an apposite example of inhumanity. Female Genital Mutilation
is practice which is hidden behind many unethical morals which makes people think that it is
going to save their dignity. Now many of you will be unaware of this term “Female Genital
Mutilation”. Female Genital Mutilation is a procedure performed especially by as cultural rite
that typically includes the total or partial excision of female external genital especially clitoris
and labia. According to the World Health Organisation, Female Genital Mutilation is defined
as, “all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or injury
to the female genital organs for non – medical reasons.” It is a ritual practice in over 27
countries in the continent of Africa and in some parts of Asia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. In
history it was performed in South – Saharan Africa, Arab societies, Romans which was
performed in their own respective styles. The practice is usually carried out by a traditional
circumciser or a person who is experienced in doing the mutilation in a traditional way and
non-medical setting. The entire procedure of FGM, if would be expressed or explained to you
in detail, it could lead you to pass out or give you a frisson. This procedure is followed,
professed by snollygoster people. With reference to WHO, there are more than 140 million
girls and women globally that experienced or undergone these procedures. There are 3
million and more girls at risk of undergoing this heinous procedure every year, particularly in
Africa. According to researchers and doctors it has proven that even the least severe form of
genital mutilation leads to complications during birth and puts the victim at risk of other
health complications too. This study also showed that the practice of FGM favoured by social
acceptance too. The practice is considered to be an honour and earns the family respect.
There are also some myths like it, increases the girl’s chances of getting married or cleanse a
girl from impure thoughts and desire. There are some social believes too that genital
mutilation controls sexual promiscuity, protects the girl from potential seducers and rapists
and also preserves her virginity (Woldmicael, 2009).
FGM has short term and long-term ill effects on the health and psychological well-being of
the victims. The severity of the cutting/mutilation directly corresponds to the harm suffered.
Since anaesthesia is rarely used on the victim during the procedure, there is extreme pain.
The other short-term health risks are excessive bleeding, swelling and inflammation in the
genital area, infection, urinary problems and in some extreme cases, even death. The long-
term consequences include chronic genital infections, recurring urinary tract infection,
painful sexual intercourse, complication during pregnancy, labour and delivery of the child,
prenatal risks and debilitating psychological consequences like post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) and depression. FGM unlike male circumcision does not have beneficial health
effects.
Due to the nature of FGM, in which brutally the very organ of human that reproduces and
give life to a new future generation are mutilated and therefore ,it is a violation of the human
rights of women and children, in infringes on the right to life and physical integrity, the right
to health and the right to freedom from torture, cruel and unusual treatment, and violence.
Since FGM is practiced mostly on minor girls who are below the age of 18 years, it is also a
violation of rights enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,
1989 (UNCRC) and violates the guarantee of non-discrimination.
Since a very long time the sexual desire has been viewed in a way that it needs to be
protected and therefore people think that circumcise their daughter is important and is totally
correct. It had been many a times argued that it has a positive impact on the health of the
victim avoiding certain kind of infection. But in the shadow of their dignity what they forget
is that in FGM not only violates the right to life and dignity but also a clear violates the right
to non- discrimination based on sex. The object and purpose and impact on male and female
circumcision are different and result causes gross discrimination against women.
In the end, relinquishment of this practice must be rooted in the communities which practice
it. It is important to know that this inhumane practice is deeply entrenched in culture and as a
consequence, despite of many laws that may outlaw it, there it is still practiced. The only
effective way to stop this is to aware and educate people as FGM is somewhere is an outcome
of illiteracy, myths and unawareness of people. There is a necessity for “collective
abandonment” in which an entire community chooses to no longer engage in FGM.