Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in
Africa, the Middle East & Far East

Where, why, what, and how it is done

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Summary:

Female 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 predated 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.

What It Is

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is practiced in many forms. In order of increasing severity, they are:

There are also various other practices, including stretching of the clitoris and/or labia, burning of the clitoris and adjacent tissues by cauterisation, scraping of the vaginal orifice, cutting the vagina, placing corrosive substances or herbs in the vaginal in order to tighen it, etc.

Because of poverty and lack of medical facilities, the procedure is frequently done under less than hygienic conditions, often by non-medically trained personnel, and usually without anesthesia. Razor blades, knives or scissors are usually the instruments used. 

In the rural Mossi areas of Burkina Faso, group female circumcisions are scheduled every three years in many villages. Girls aged from 5 to 8 are assembled by their mothers into groups of up to 20. The circumcision "uses a knife-like instrument, the barga, reserved specifically for this purpose; after each operation she simply wipes the knife on a piece of cloth, sometimes rinsing it in water first." ₈ In some areas of Africa, FGM is delayed until two months before a woman gives birth. This practice is based on the belief that the baby will die if she/he comes into contact with their mother's clitoris during birth. We are unaware of any medical evidence to support this belief. Other areas perform FGM on infants before their first birthday, or in adolescence.

Side effects of the operation can include: hemorrhage, shock, painful scars, keloid formation, labial adherences, clitoral cysts, chronic urinary infection, and chronic pelvic infections. Later in life, it can cause kidney stones, sterility, sexual dysfunction, depression, and various gynecological and obstetric problems.

In which countries is it practiced?

Unfortunately, few statistical studies have been made; only rough estimates are available of the frequency with which FGM is performed. In some countries, the practice is near universal. One source ₁ estimates that 90% or more of the girls in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Sudan (North) have been mutilated. The same source indicates that over 50% of the girls in Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria and Togo have been operated on. The FGM Education and Networking Project maintains a regularly updated list of countries, population groups, and the types of operation performed. There are over 30 million mutilated women currently living in Nigeria, and about 24 million in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Various groups estimate that from 114 to 130 million women worldwide have had the operation. FGM is outlawed in some countries where it had been widely practiced, such as Kenya and Senegal. It is criminalized in some western countries, where it is normally practiced only by a small number of recent immigrants.

The procedure has been banned in several African nations, including Burkina Faso, Djibouti, the Central African Republic, Ghana, Guinea, Senegal, and Togo. ₉

Why it is Done?

The justification for the operation appears to be largely grounded in a desire to terminate or reduce feelings of sexual arousal in women so that they will be much less likely to engage in pre-marital intercourse or adultery. The clitoris holds a massive number of nerve endings, and generates feelings of sexual arousal when stimulated.

Parents in those cultures where FGM is common often feel that it is the only way to guarantee that their girl children will remain "pure" until marriage. This belief is so strong that it can overcome the dangers to the girls: some do not survive the blood loss during the operation; others die from infection; most suffer life-long complications.

Uncircumcised women in countries where FGM is normally performed have difficulty finding a marriage partner. Men typically prefer a circumcised wife because they are considered more likely to be faithful. Other claims in support of FGM are:

These claims appear to have little or no support outside of countries where FGM is common.

The fear of AIDS has been used by both sides of this issue. Shiek Badri stated in 1997-JUN: "Those who are not circumcised get AIDS easily" But opponents to the practice note that AIDS is spread by unhygienic practices normally present during the procedure itself.

References used:

Many of the web sites referenced in the preparation of his essay have already gone offline.

1. Sami A. ALDEEB ABU-SAHLIEH, "To Mutilate in the Name of Jehovah or Allah: Legitimization of Male and Female Circumcision" Available on line at: http://www.hollyfeld.org/fgm/refer/mutilate.html
2. Research, Action and Information Network for Bodily Integrity of Women (RAINBO) specializes in programs to eliminate FGM. They list many books and reports for sale at low prices. They also loan videos. See: http://www.rainbo.org/
3. Sami A. Aldeeb Abu-Sahleih, "To Mutilate in the Name of Jehovah or Allah,"   at: http://almashriq.hiof.no/
4. Wolf Leslau, "Coutumes et croyances des Falachas (Juifs d'Abyssinie)," Institut d'Ethnographie, Paris, (1957), Page 93.
5. "FGM: Religion," Amnesty International, at: http://www.amnesty.org/
6. Private Email, received 2000-DEC-30.
7. The Female Genital Mutilation Research Homepage contained a complete review of FGM. The web site appears to have been abandoned. 
8. B. Taverne, "Ethics and communication strategy: female circumcision and AIDS in Burkina Faso", (1996). On line at: http://melusine.mpl.orstom.fr/ Also offline
9. "28 on trial in France for female genital mutilation," Reuters, 1999-FEB-2
10. Sophie Poldermans, "Combating Female Genital Mutilation in Europe," Page 50, at: www.stopfgm.net/  This is a PDF file.

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