Female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM) - also, "female genital cutting" (FGC),[1] also known euphemistically as "female circumcision" - is an horrific cultural barbarism seen primarily in sub-Saharan and Eastern Africa.
The specific procedure of FGC is classified into four different levels of child abuse. Type IV is a symbolic prick that is painful, but unlikely to cause lasting physical harm. Type I involves the agonizing removal of the clitoral prepuce. Type II is particularly brutal involving the full removal of the outer genitalia including the clitoris and labia. As if these forms of butchery weren't sadistic enough, an especially vicious treatment is reserved for Type III victims. The girl's clitoris and labia are chopped off and the vagina is partially sewn shut and left to heal over, resulting in a wall of tissue over the vagina with only a small orifice for urination.
Consequences of female genital mutilation depend on the severity of the procedure, but can include inability of the woman to enjoy sex, genitourinary tract complications, increased risk of fatality during childbirth,[2] and the risk of infection or death from the unsafe conditions under which the procedure is done.[2]. Such an act would be considered manslaughter in civilised countries.
Infibulation in particular is used to enforce sexual abstinence, at least until marriage when the vaginal covering is broken before or during penetration.
Contents |
[edit] Description
[edit] WHO's definition
The World Health Organization, in an attempt to bring focus to the issue and hopefully outlaw the practice worldwide, has provided the definition as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons." [3]
[edit] Historical context
Female and male tribal markings, including genital markings, have long been a part of human culture as a way to say "you are part of our tribe, and not that tribe", as a way of acknowledging membership to the tribe via the sacrifice of flesh or blood, and as a way of marking ascension into adulthood with associated responsibilities. [4] From piercings and light scarification, to tattooing, to circumcision and even castration, the body has been used throughout history by a variety of cultures to mark identity.
Cutting or scarification of the female genitals is known throughout the world, including Australian aboriginal tribes, ancient proto-Hindu cultures, and several South American tribes. In these cases, the goal is a sacrifice of the flesh and blood to the tribe or the gods, resulting in scarring and marking and not an impediment to sexual function or pleasure.[4]
Female circumcision as it is known in the Middle East is generally viewed to have begun with the Pharaohs of Egypt, as early as the 3rd Dynasty (3000-2800 BCE). Mummies have been found with Type I (removal of the clitoral hood), and type III (infibulation - total removal of the external genitalia, and suturing to a tiny hole which allows for urination, but must then be cut open for sex). The term "pharaonic circumcision" which is used throughout the Middle East to describe a full infibulation arose out of this practice. The Romans had a lovely ceremony where they pierced the outer labia of infant girls with a fibula (broach), that would be removed by the husband on the wedding night.[4]
While Judaism requires male circumcision, there is no indication anywhere in the Torah or commentaries that even contemplates female circumcision. However, the Ethiopian Jewish community (Beta Israel) practice FGC as part of their Ethiopian identity. [4]. Though the religious body of Judaism asserts that at no time in Jewish history have any women been circumcised, S. Cohen claims to have found evidence for small communities who practice the rite. However, both during Pharaonic Egyptian era, and in the face of the Muslim wars beginning in 600 CE, there were strong cultural reasons to separate Jews from those who practiced this rite.[5]
Christianity, as it moved into Africa, also adopted various form of, and rites associated with circumcision.
[edit] FGM and religion
In the modern Western world people mistakenly believe female genital mutilation is mostly a religious practice which is factually wrong.[4] Studies by the US Department of Health and the World Health Organization, among others, using the material from a host of anthropologists[6] have consistently stated that FMG is part of cultural rituals associated with tribal identity and tribal markings, and not with a particular religion.[7] In Africa and parts of the Middle East, the practice harms young girls regardless of the religion of the individuals. In Guinea, for example, over 90% of the population practice some Type of FMG -- Christians and Muslims alike. Rural Israel reports incidents of cutting in the Coptic Jewish community as well as the Muslim communities. [8].
Not one religious text from India to Christianity or Islam references, much less "requires", such an abhorrent act, at least not on girls. However, in a hadith Muhammad was said to have no particular problem with it.
[edit] World practice
Although the practice predates Islam by over a thousand years, it has become associated with Islam due to the geographic collocation of countries practising female genital mutilation and Muslim countries[9], as well as some level of stereotype.
[edit] Legal status
Many countries, including countries where FGM is practised, have laws outlawing the procedure, though these can be difficult to enforce as they are often performed locally without medical supervision. Many Western organizations are working to pressure governments to pass additional laws and step up enforcement methods[10].
As of 2011, 13 countries have fully outlawed any instance of FGM:
- Sweden (1982)
- Britain (1985), and the rest of the UK (2005)
- Most of Australia (1994 - Note: 2 states have not passed any legislation on FGM)
- New Zealand (1995)
- Norway (1995)
- Canada (1997)
- United States (1997)
- Belgium (2000)
- Cyprus (2003)
- Denmark (2003)
- Spain (2003)
- Italy (2005)
- France (2007) (though one of the last to catch up, they have prosecuted those who practice FGM on children under existing child abuse laws)
African nations, attempting to grapple with not only the moral and ethical issues of FGM, but also the AIDS crisis, have enacted a variety of laws regarding the legality of such practices.
[edit] Middle East and Africa
The UN/WHO study on FGM lists the following percentages of the female population from 15-49 years old who have undergone some level of FGM.
- Egypt - 95%
- Ivory Coast - 42%
- Ethiopia - 74%
- Guinea - 97%
- Kenya - 27% [11]
- Mali - 92%
- Nigeria 20%
- Somalia - 98%
- Northern Sudan - 80-90% (this is an approximation, as many people are tribal, and the studies consistently vary)
No official studies have been done in the following countries, but FGM has been documented in scientific literature. [12]
- India
- Indonesia
- Israel (the study cited by WHO was of Israel's Bedouin population)
- Malaysia
- United Arab Emirates.
Countries that have had no studies, but clearly still practice the procedure include:
In these four non-African Muslim countries, the practice is considered to be undesired, so estimates range in the 5-25% of adult women are mutilated.
[edit] United States, Canada, UK and Australia
In the US, UK and Canada, all forms of FGM are illegal, even the simple tribal markings of "nicking". In the UK, a BBC report on the ethics of "female circumcision" reports that 76,000 women living in the UK are not only have been mutilated, but have undergone the procedure in the UK. Anywhere from 25,000-100,000 more women are mutilated either before they arrive in the UK, or in what can best be described as legal family supported "abductions" to countries where the procedure is performed, then returned home.[15]
The United States CDC has estimated that nearly 300,000 girls have undergone the surgery illegally in the US, and like the UK, they suspect that thousands more may have had the procedure done in other countries.[16]
Australia has a somewhat unique problem, in that a form of cutting, the "nicking" form is practiced by aboriginals. There is no real harm to the woman, other than the pain and scaring of the puberty ceremony.[17] However, the concern for protecting the rights of native tribal people pales in the face of the problem of immigrant populations doing full FGM. Like the US and UK, all forms of cutting are illegal in Australia. The Royal Woman's Hospital in Melbourne has stated they see roughly 700-1000 women per year who have had some moderate to extreme procedure done to them at some point in their life. Often, they are in the hospital due to associated complications during pregnancy[18].
In all three of these countries, laws have been proposed to allow medical professionals (surgeons) to do a form of tribal genital cutting, or removal of the clitoral hood as is done with male circumcision. The argument is twofold. One, professionals would be using antiseptic conditions, professional tools, and would be less likely to botch the procedure. Two, if "something" were offered, perhaps the trend of total infibulation or removal of the clitoris would not be seen as necessary. However, none of these "sane alternative" laws have gained much legal support.
[edit] Cultural relativists' defence of child abuse
Some cultural relativists defend the use of female genital mutilation as part of a mystical spiritual journey that a young girl takes within the boundaries of tribal identity to make her body more beautiful and virtuous. This image is strikingly different to the one of a girl being held down as an old woman nicks off her clitoris with a rusty knife.
A small minority of the most extreme "social constructivists" such as Carla Obermeyer[wp] write off arguments about the medical complications that result from female genital mutilation as highly exaggerated and lacking sound medical investigation. Considering the near lack of even rudimentary medical facilities in less-developed areas and the fact that in some cases male doctors (often the only trained doctors in some regions) are not allowed to examine female genitalia, the lack of medical evidence is not surprising. However there are documented cases of serious medical complications involved with the removal of a bodily organ by an untrained individual.
Others claim that a small nick as practised in many cases is harmless in comparison to full out removal of the vulva. However even slight damage to the clitoris will often result in a depravity of sexual sensitivity. One wouldn't cut off the top 5 centimeters of a boys penis and claim that it is harmless compared to chopping the whole thing off.
A recent article by Janice Boddy[wp] claims that genital mutilation is a loaded term which only westerners use. According to the report African woman consider the procedure a "beautification", or a "honorification" or a "womanization". The outright force involved and lack of consultation with the girl nor ability to make a personal informed decision on her own accord makes such idealistic adjectives seem absurd. A twenty year old woman can ask for the procedure if she likes and we can call it "beautification" just as breast enlargement might be considered beautification, however the chopping off of a girl's vulva under force is full out irreversible genital mutilation.
Richard Shweder, a scary psychological-anthropologist, claims that westerners should not judge societies which perform female genital mutilation, but that they should instead "understand" the culture, believing that we are too quick to judge and view tribal societies through the unfair lens of barbarism and even imperialist attitudes. If asked whether the same principle should be applied to a culture that uses their children as sex slaves or cattle labour...these narratives suddenly become silent. If we should not judge other cultures but understand them then the West should not be judged for its culture of free inquiry, the ability to question archaic procedures and empathise with little girls who are held down under force while their vulvas are chopped off with a rusty knife.
[edit] Other Anthropological approaches
Sensible anthropologists (the type who don't take cultural relativism to such an extreme) argue that while one's first instinct is naturally to smack the shit out of people who do this and throw them in prison, the best thing to do is to try to understand the cultural attitudes and work with locals to change local attitudes and educate people on the dangers of FGM, because the practice persists even in areas where there are laws against it.
Another thing to note is that some Muslim practitioners of FGM are under the mistaken belief that Islam requires it. Ellen Gruenbeaum notes that the Islamic movement in Sudan is strongly critical of FGM, and that exposure to other Islamic cultures reinforces the emerging view in Sudan that it is not demanded by Islam. [19]
[edit] Reparative surgery
It seems that the possibility for reparative surgery exists which is, (not surprisingly, considering their extremely hedonistic focus on sensual and sexual pleasure) supported by the Raëlians[20]
[edit] Resources
- Eliminating female genital mutilation, a UN/WHO report
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ The WHO has advocated the term "cutting" instead of mutilation, because the term "mutilation" brings along a host of social perceptions and assumptions that create political arguments which interfere with actually stopping the procedures.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=18718&Cr=genital&Cr1=mutilation
- ↑ http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/index.html
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Circumcision: a history of the world's most controversial surgery By David Gollaher, 2000.
- ↑ Shayne D. Cohen, Why Aren't Jewish Women Circumcised?: Gender and Covenant in Judaism, 2005
- ↑ Gollaher, RO Hayes, H. Lewis, AM Gibeau as examples have all studied and written about the history of FMG, and the core "tribal" identity that transcends religion
- ↑ See "Female Genital Mutilation, World Health Organization's Handbook for frontline workers, 2000 as an example
- ↑ http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/female-genital-cutting.cfm
- ↑ Mustafa, A. Z. (1966), FEMALE CIRCUMCISION AND INFIBULATION IN THE SUDAN. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 73: 302–306.
- ↑ http://reproductiverights.org/en/document/female-genital-mutilation-fgm-legal-prohibitions-worldwide
- ↑ http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/fgm/prevalence/en/index.html
- ↑ Also from the WHO document
- ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/blog/2008/nov/13/female-genital-mutilation-sexual-dysfunction
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/femalecircumcision/femalecirc_1.shtml
- ↑ UKs policy about what to do if things "go wrong" overseas, indicating that the UK government is aware of this fact, but can do little to prevent it.
- ↑ Female Genital Mutilation, NCIB, 1997 (pg 372)
- ↑ http://www.adelaide.edu.au/apsa/docs_papers/Others/Pringle.pdf
- ↑ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-02-06/female-circumcision-happening-in-australia/2594496
- ↑ Gruenbaum, Ellen.1996. The Cultural Debate over Female Circumcision: The Sudanese Are Arguing This One out for Themselves. Medical Anthropology Quarterly. 10 (4): 449-695.
- ↑ High hopes: the UFO cult 'restoring' the victims of female genital mutilation - the Guardian