English 8
Ms. Hyde
FGM- Social Epidemic
For countless years many have performed strange rituals and procedures in the name of religions, gods, or even kings. Some of these rituals or procedures degrade human beings for others pleasure. Female Genital Mutilation is an inhumane ritual/procedure that, degrades women, puts women at a high health risk, and sometimes can have lethal consequences. No religion or politic can justify these actions.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is also known sometimes as “Female Circumcision", which is medically incorrect because according to Gerard Zwang “a definitive and irremediable removal of a healthy organ is a mutilation” (Dorkenoo, 4). There are different types of FGM, there is Circumcision: the removal of the prepuce or the hood of the clitoris, Excision: total cutting of the clitoris and all or part of the labia minora, Infibulation: cutting of the clitoris part if not all of the labia minora and majora, then the vaginal area is sewn or glued together except for a small hole for the urine and the menstrual cycle, finally the patient is held down for forty days giving the wound enough time to scar, and the Sunna (tradition) referred to by the muslim community: partial clitorectomy, total clitorectomy or intermediate infibulation. These mutilations are performed with special knives, razors blades, pieces of glass, scissors, on rare occasions sharp stones, cauterization (burning), and fingernails have been used to pluck out the clitoris of baby girls. Now the process is complete and they strap down the patient for about forty days, and there is little to no movement because of the pain. (Dorkenoo,)
“Excision practices can be assumed to date back thousands of years” and at some point “these practices came into conjunction with the obsessive preoccupation with virginity and chastity that today still characterizes Islamic-Arabic cultures” (Lightfoot-Klein, 27). As history shows, the Islamic cultures have traces of mutilation and infibulation appears to be the result of the collision. According to the Sharia (Islamic Law) “Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male, but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the clitoris (this is called HufaaD).” So as we see Muslim law clearly states that is necessary for followers to go forward with these rituals whether or not the patients are at an age to consent the operation. Some pro-mutilation activist say that it is like a sacrifice for their husbands, but how can a child sacrifice for a man she has not met yet? These activist are just trying to hide under the blanket of religion because of its acceptance of mutilation and it stresses the concept of purity or virginity. Though some religious leaders say that medically the operation is not recommended they also say that it is up to the parents to decide what to do with their children, “giving these conflicting opinions, it’s not surprising that Muslims believe strongly in the practice” (Dorkenoo, 38).
Parents are decision makers when it comes to their children. The parent decides everything for their children from the clothes they wear to the food they eat. So it's not surprising that parents and even grandparents force their children into these god-awful rituals. In some families the parents have these rituals done because they know that their daughters are worth more if they are still virgins. Also there are social pressures within their communities, because in a village or community where most if not all the girls/
women are mutilated there is more pressure on the parents and the female her self to go through with this operation to fit into the social conformity.
"Female genital mutilation is a part of a continuum of patriarchal repression of women sexuality, which has been repressed in a variety of ways in all parts of the world throughout history and up to the present time" (Dorkenoo, 29). Many men find ways of repressing women by practicing these outdated customs and in some cases turn to sexual slave trading to hold women back even more. This is done to prevent their getting pregnant. An infibulated virgin fetches a far higher price on the slave market (Lightfoot-Klein, 28). So as we see mutilation is a way to hold women back, a way to manipulate them so that men can do as they please, they use mutilation as a sexual perk.
Aside from the degrading of women, those who take part in mutilating also break many laws. For example the children’s right covenant that was ratified in 1990 in Sudan, the universal Human Rights Laws, and there have been many treaties and covenants that have been supplemented by the United Nations. “These international treaties”-“ contain provisions protecting the rights of women and girls” (Rahman and Toubia, 18). Basically these laws have been placed to protect women (as well as others in need), but yet women and children are still being mutilated, and slave traded. However, no one will interfere with these practices because they say it's part of their religion. These inimaginable acts prevent women from holding a job or going to school and that violates international law.
There have been many health repercussions when referring to FGM. There are different health reprocutions when dealing with FGM, there are immediate health issues and long term ones. Immediate health complications include: violent pain, hemorrhage, and postoperative shock (Lightfoot-klein,). Bad eyesight of the operator can lead to the damaging of other organs like the urethra, anal sphincter, and vaginal walls. There is also a problem with infection and disease starting from the operating environment if it’s not cleansed properly, the same tools used for many operations, and open wounds are examined with bare hands. In an “indigenous village” if there is barely any clean water how is a patient supposed to be safe, there is no possible way foranything to be cleansed. Operation materials are used over and over again, in one case a fourteen year old girl, “was diagnosed HIV-positive although she was a virgin. Blame was laid on the fact that during tribal circumcision the same razor would be used on any number of children at the same time” (Dorkenoo, 14). Which proves that materials used were not medically approved. Before the vagina is closed, the parents or patients relative examine it with their bare hands. Remember most people where FGM is practiced are below middle class so they are most likely to work with their hands a lot. So even after they are done with the FGM process the women are still exposed to health care dangers. Long-term complications are loss of sexual sensation during intercourse, painful sex and menstrual cycles, and childbirth complications.
After any FGM procedure, human beings have to urine. When the girls or women want to use the latrine there is pain and burning sensation because the wound is still open and has not healed. On top of that and the hole that I sleft is very smal so women have to use extra force to urinate. These women go through so much pain just to go to the bathroom. “The average period of time required by a pharaonically circumcised virgin to urinate, as reported by women, is 10 to 15 minutes.” “Kidney and urinary track infections appear often” (Lightfoot-Klein, 57). Menstruation cycles also affects these women a lot because if urinenation takes a long time then menstruation takes even longer. Many infibulated women report painful menstruations that in many cases result in “ a build-up of clotted blood behind the infibulation,” that in the end frequently require “surgical intersession” (Lightfoot-Klein, 57). Now menstruation may require ten or more days to complete. These women that report blood clots and such may have bad odor because the blood accumulates and starts to smell rotten and disgusting after a while (Lightfoot-Klein,). Health complications are always going to be present for these women even after many years of dealing with it.
Psychological trauma is a big influence in the lives of these women. Not many women who have been mutilated procede to doctors for evaluation but those who did were diagnosed with “loss of self-esteem; feelings of victimization; severe anxiety prior to the operation; depression associated with complications such as infection, hemorrhage, shock, septicemia, and retention of urine; chronic irritability; and sexual frustration” (Lightfoot-Klein, 76). This list may increase as procedures continue. These women feel like they were victimized, like someone had taken advantage of their body. Women feel inferior to the opposite sex as well as the rest of the world. All these feelings and emotions are not healthy for the everyday life.
As previously mentioned not many women who are affected visit the doctors unless there is a last minute emergency in which there is little to do for the patients. “Dr. Rosemary Mburu, a Kenyan gynecologist has estimated that fifteen per cent of all circumcised women die of bleeding and infections” (Dorkenoo, 15). Child labor also causes deaths not only for the child but also for the mother. The walls of the womb are tight because of the mutilation, and prevent the child and mother from having a normal birth.
For many years’ politicians, activists, and everyday people have fought to prevent female genital mutilation from continuing. The United Nations are the main sponsors of thee abolition of this atrocity. They have done a lot for those affected, like the international human rights covenant, women’s covenant, and recently passed legislature, labeling FGM as an inhumane practice. This was passed in a hearing at the United Nations building in the US. However there are some cases where FGM is a true ritual and can’t be prohibited because it can conflict with peoples’ freedom of religion.
All evidence of danger during these processes are now exposed, so why do atrocities like FGM keep happening in our world? Fingers maybe pointed but as we all argue these innocent women are being victimized and mistreated. These young girls are being mutilated for one mans pleasure and that’s not right. Most areas in which FGM were practiced have been eliminated but some still stand. It is up to our present and future leaders to completely annihilate these inhumane, unjust, and hazardous procedures. Don’t just rely on them either, step up and help with the abolition of Female Genital Mutilation.
Work Cited
Internet:
“Economic and Social Council”. Ending female genital mutilation.
February 26- March 9 2007. United Nations. 8 March 2007
Books:
Dorkenoo, Efua. Cutting The Rose: Female Genital Mutilation: Practice and its Prevention. London, United Kingdom: Minority Rights Publications, 1994.
Lightfoot-Klein, Hanny. Prisoners of Ritual: an odyssey into female genital circumcision in Africa. Binghamton, NY: Harrington Park Press Inc., 1989.
Rahman, Anika, and Toubia, Nahida. Female genital Mutilation: A Guide to Laws and Policies Worldwide. London, UK and New York, NY: Zed Books, 2000.
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