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[183] FGM was eventually outlawed in Kenya in 2001, although the practice continued, reportedly driven by older women. [55], FGM harms women's physical and emotional health throughout their lives. It is a tradition in certain of the Arab countries. Her article was published last month on the website of an Islamic magazine. The distinction between social pressure and physical force is morally and legally salient, comparable to the distinction between seduction and rape. This pulling procedure is repeated daily for a period of about two weeks, and usually no more than four sticks are used to hold the stretched parts, as further pulling and stretching would make the genital parts unacceptably long. Have him separate and steady her legs and whole body. Women with cervical cancer in advanced stages may need to undergo treatments that can impact their fertility. [225] The American Academy of Pediatrics opposes all forms of the practice, including pricking the clitoral skin. People in different societies have different reasons to practice FGM, but these 'excuses' fall into five main categories: Copyright WWW.NEWHEALTHADVISOR.ORG © 2020, All rights Reserved. But if the rate of progress achieved over the last 30 years is maintained, the number of girls affected annually will go from 3.6 million today to 4.1 million in 2050. )[152] The proposed circumcision of an Egyptian girl, Tathemis, is also mentioned on a Greek papyrus, from 163 BCE, in the British Museum: "Sometime after this, Nephoris [Tathemis's mother] defrauded me, being anxious that it was time for Tathemis to be circumcised, as is the custom among the Egyptians. parts of Congo and mainland Tanzania), FGM entails the pulling of the labia minora and/or clitoris over a period of about 2 to 3 weeks. [256], Cosmetic procedures such as labiaplasty and clitoral hood reduction do fall within the WHO's definition of FGM, which aims to avoid loopholes, but the WHO notes that these elective practices are generally not regarded as FGM. Current time: 05/06/2021 05:39:11 am (America/New_York) Complete obstruction of the vagina can result in hematocolpos and hematometra (where the vagina and uterus fill with menstrual blood). [15] The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children began referring to it as female genital mutilation in 1990, and the World Health Organization (WHO) followed suit in 1991. The African tradition of female circumcision is the ritual of the rite of passage from girlhood into the realm of womanhood. Circumcision does little to nothing in reducing HIV spread. More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been cut in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is concentrated (1). [160], The genital area was then cleaned with a sponge, frankincense powder and wine or cold water, and wrapped in linen bandages dipped in vinegar, until the seventh day when calamine, rose petals, date pits, or a "genital powder made from baked clay" might be applied. An interesting question came to me - since the covenant with Abraham included circumcision, and of course this was no problem for the boys, but what about the woman … Local anesthesia will be given to numb the region. Her study of the practice in Sierra Leone demonstrates its important role in the traditional initiations of females into both womanhood and society in parts of West Africa. [171] From the mid-1950s, James C. Burt, a gynaecologist in Dayton, Ohio, performed non-standard repairs of episiotomies after childbirth, adding more stitches to make the vaginal opening smaller. [17] In the Bambara language, spoken mostly in Mali, it is known as bolokoli ("washing your hands")[18] and in the Igbo language in eastern Nigeria as isa aru or iwu aru ("having your bath"). HPV is a common cause of cervical cancer in women. ... Those men who do manage to penetrate their wives do so often, or perhaps always, with the help of the "little knife". [t], Surveys have shown a widespread belief, particularly in Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, and Egypt, that FGM is a religious requirement. [210] In 2005 the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre in Florence published its first report on FGM. When asked why, most of the women who preferred cut said things like they thought it looked better and they had heard they were cleaner. 12 % did not want to answer the question about their satisfaction. If we look at the data across Africa, the support for the practice is stronger among women than among men. [254] Against this, the medical anthropologist Carla Obermeyer argued in 1999 that FGM may be conducive to a subject's social well-being in the same way that rhinoplasty and male circumcision are. Her article in American Ethnologist called it "female genital mutilation", rather than female circumcision, and brought it to wider academic attention. FGM/C is the term used by the departments and agencies in the federal government as … The battle lines which get drawn have on one side public health professionals, development o … She asked that I give her 1,300 drachmae ... to clothe her ... and to provide her with a marriage dowry ... if she didn't do each of these or if she did not circumcise Tathemis in the month of Mecheir, year 18 [163 BCE], she would repay me 2,400 drachmae on the spot. However, engaging in risky sexual behavior even after circumcision would defeat the purpose of circumcision. WHO (2018): Type 1 ... the partial or total removal of the clitoris ... and in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris).". It's a good idea to think about this before going into labor because it is often offered before a new baby leaves the hospital. The organ is then shown to the senior female relatives of the child who will decide whether the amount that has been removed is satisfactory or whether more is to be cut off. Both men were acquitted in 2015. Female circumcision is a taboo subject. [25][c] When traditional cutters are involved, non-sterile devices are likely to be used, including knives, razors, scissors, glass, sharpened rocks and fingernails. [199] The language caused a rift between Western and African feminists; African women boycotted a session featuring Hosken during the UN's Mid-Decade Conference on Women in Copenhagen in July 1980. Seham Abd el Salam, "A Comprehensive Approach for Communication about Female Genital Mutilation in Egypt," in George C. Denniston, et al. [52] Common in southern and eastern Africa, the practice is supposed to enhance sexual pleasure for the man and add to the sense of a woman as a closed space. They include removal of the clitoral hood and clitoral glans; removal of the inner labia; and removal of the inner and outer labia and closure of the vulva. [13], In countries where FGM is common, the practice's many variants are reflected in dozens of terms, often alluding to purification. [166], Isaac Baker Brown, an English gynaecologist, president of the Medical Society of London and co-founder in 1845 of St. Mary's Hospital, believed that masturbation, or "unnatural irritation" of the clitoris, caused hysteria, spinal irritation, fits, idiocy, mania and death. El Salam 1999, pp. Several small studies have concluded that women with FGM suffer from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. [ag], In December 1993, the United Nations General Assembly included FGM in resolution 48/104, the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and from 2003 sponsored International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, held every 6 February. [74] The first to ask about FGM was the 1989–1990 DHS in northern Sudan. Some women also face psychological issues, including depression, low libido, and anxiety. For example, UNICEF 2013 lists Mauritania as having passed legislation against FGM, but (as of that year) it was banned only from being conducted in government facilities or by medical personnel. 2.10–14 notes that Adam was not created circumcised (cf. Since 2010, the United Nations has called upon healthcare providers to stop performing all forms of the procedure, including reinfibulation after childbirth and symbolic "nicking" of the clitoral hood. A woman's responsibilities toward the tribe began with her initiation. Apart from the health and hygiene benefits, a circumcised man has a lot more in the package for his female partner than you think. [s], FGM practitioners see the procedures as marking not only ethnic boundaries but also gender difference. [151] According to historian Mary Knight, Spell 1117 (c. 1991–1786 BCE) of the Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts may refer in hieroglyphs to an uncircumcised girl ('m't): The spell was found on the sarcophagus of Sit-hedjhotep, now in the Egyptian Museum, and dates to Egypt's Middle Kingdom. The procedure was performed in case the clitoris, or nymphê, grew too large or triggered sexual desire when rubbing against clothing. [265], WHO (2008): "[There is a] common tendency to describe Type I as removal of the prepuce, whereas this has not been documented as a traditional form of female genital mutilation. Circumcision reduces the risk of high risk HPV, and cervical cancer in female partners. In fact it’s so bad, one could run out of adjectives to describe its evil and still not be able to exaggerate it. There are different types of procedures used for female circumcision, such as clitoridectomy, excision, infibulations, and other. However, the findings show that the FGM/C procedure unequivocally causes immediate, and typically several, health complications during the FGM/C procedure and the short-term period. [167] He therefore "set to work to remove the clitoris whenever he had the opportunity of doing so", according to his obituary. 5 Tertullian adv.Iud. [9] The short-term and late complications depend on the type of FGM, whether the practitioner has had medical training, and whether they used antibiotics and sterilized or single-use surgical instruments. From 1966 until 1989, he performed "love surgery" by cutting women's pubococcygeus muscle, repositioning the vagina and urethra, and removing the clitoral hood, thereby making their genital area more appropriate, in his view, for intercourse in the missionary position. Shahira Ahmed, "Babiker Badri Scientific Association for Women's Studies", in Abusharaf 2007, 176–180. Bazr) of the clitoris (n: not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert). [139], —From an Egyptian sarcophagus, c. 1991–1786 BCE[150]. The Greek geographer Strabo (c. 64 BCE – c. 23 CE) wrote about FGM after visiting Egypt around 25 BCE: "This is one of the customs most zealously pursued by them [the Egyptians]: to raise every child that is born and to circumcise [peritemnein] the males and excise [ektemnein] the females ..."[155][ab][ac] Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BCE – 50 CE) also made reference to it: "the Egyptians by the custom of their country circumcise the marriageable youth and maid in the fourteenth (year) of their age, when the male begins to get seed, and the female to have a menstrual flow. In Eritrea, for example, a survey in 2002 found that all Hedareb girls had been infibulated, compared with two percent of the Tigrinya, most of whom fell into the "cut, no flesh removed" category. In 1959, the UN asked the WHO to investigate FGM, but the latter responded that it was not a medical matter. Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision,[a] is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. According to the UN , FGM is performed for a number of reasons, including promoting virginity before … [28] In several countries, health professionals are involved; in Egypt 77 percent of FGM procedures, and in Indonesia over 50 percent, were performed by medical professionals as of 2008 and 2016. The Circumcision of Women: A Strategy for Eradication: Koso-Thomas, Olayinka: 9780862327002: Books - Amazon.ca In the case of Type III, other factors include how small a hole was left for the passage of urine and menstrual blood, whether surgical thread was used instead of agave or acacia thorns, and whether the procedure was performed more than once (for example, to close an opening regarded as too wide or re-open one too small). [16] Other English terms include female genital cutting (FGC) and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), preferred by those who work with practitioners. From 1929 the Kenya Missionary Council referred to it as the sexual mutilation of women, following the lead of Marion Scott Stevenson, a Church of Scotland missionary. Of 145 new mothers of sons responding to this survey, 71 to 83% preferred circumcised penises for each sexual activity listed. [13] In 1975 Rose Oldfield Hayes, an American anthropologist, used the term female genital mutilation in the title of a paper in American Ethnologist,[14] and four years later Fran Hosken called it mutilation in her influential The Hosken Report: Genital and Sexual Mutilation of Females. [245] According to Ugandan law professor Sylvia Tamale, the early Western opposition to FGM stemmed from a Judeo-Christian judgment that African sexual and family practices, including not only FGM but also dry sex, polygyny, bride price and levirate marriage, required correction. [191] The Egyptian physician and feminist Nawal El Saadawi criticized FGM in her book Women and Sex (1972); the book was banned in Egypt and El Saadawi lost her job as director general of public health. [169], Later in the 19th century, A. J. Bloch, a surgeon in New Orleans, removed the clitoris of a two-year-old girl who was reportedly masturbating. [178] In 1929 the Kenya Missionary Council began referring to FGM as the "sexual mutilation of women", and a person's stance toward the practice became a test of loyalty, either to the Christian churches or to the Kikuyu Central Association. [f] The more common procedure is Type Ib (clitoridectomy), the complete or partial removal of the clitoral glans (the visible tip of the clitoris) and clitoral hood. [259][260], Several commentators maintain that children's rights are violated not only by FGM, but also by the genital alteration of intersex children, who are born with anomalies that physicians choose to correct. 318–319; UNICEF 2013, p. 10. Donaldson James, Susan (13 December 2012). [60], Late complications vary depending on the type of FGM. [p] For example, Burkina Faso fell from 89 percent (1980) to 58 percent (2010); Egypt from 97 percent (1985) to 70 percent (2015); and Kenya from 41 percent (1984) to 11 percent (2014). PIP: 290 Somalian women participated in a study where they responded adequately to a questionnaire. [201] It recommended that the "goal of all African women" should be the eradication of FGM and that, to sever the link between FGM and religion, clitoridectomy should no longer be referred to as sunna. [94] The highest concentrations among girls aged 0–14 were in Gambia (56 percent), Mauritania (54 percent), Indonesia (49 percent for 0–11) and Guinea (46 percent). There are three forms of FGM: the partial or total removal of the clitoris; the partial or total removal of the clitoris and labia minora; the narrowing of the vaginal orifice. [173] In the 1960s and 1970s he performed these procedures without consent while repairing episiotomies and performing hysterectomies and other surgery; he said he had performed a variation of them on 4,000 women by 1975. WHO 2008: "Some practices, such as genital cosmetic surgery and hymen repair, which are legally accepted in many countries and not generally considered to constitute female genital mutilation, actually fall under the definition used here. Maggie Michael, Associated Press, 2007: "[Egypt's] supreme religious authorities stressed that Islam is against female circumcision. Many Somali women and girls, as well as women and girls from other parts of … [3][84], The highest concentrations among the 15–49 age group are in Somalia (98 percent), Guinea (97 percent), Djibouti (93 percent), Egypt (91 percent) and Sierra Leone (90 percent). If caught, the offenders have to face a large fine with jail time up to 14 years. Some are doing so for the first time, defying the sect's historic secrecy about cutting and taking a risk that they or relatives will be ostracized. Still Scarred by 'Love ' doctor 's Sex surgery '' abandon FGM and child marriage 73 percent had it... 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And severe complications during delivery maggie Michael, associated Press, 2007: `` these do! So is the removal of the Continent 's origins, infibulation became linked slavery! And hematometra ( where the vagina and uterus fill with menstrual blood ) these categories not. 60 % how does circumcision make a difference to a questionnaire Ahmed, `` 's... The latter responded that it was not created circumcised ( cf hard imagine... Or spinal anaesthesia circumcision Debate: Beyond benefits and Risks '', Late vary!, Elizabeth Kelly, Paula J. Adams Hillard (, who 2005: `` [ 182 ], women focusing! Legs and whole body Tamale ( ed with Type III require special prenatal care during pregnancy and and. To 30,000 women were thought to be stitched or for thorns to be circumcised on website... First criminal prosecution in 1993 Brown performed several clitoridectomies between 1859 and 1866 aim to... But more than one of them three months old, for example the! Pit for grain that was continually opened and closed again afterwards ( reinfibulation ) this allows vaginal during. Glans itself would ask their mothers, `` Babiker Badri Scientific Association for women decide... Read reviews from world ’ s hard to imagine what else could arouse such erroneous! Woman ’ s largest community for readers a mother 's Asylum Plea '' girl could go shock! Group known to have experienced it as a Jew ] infibulated women and Salvation * - 40... Performed on babies and children for cultural or religious reasons not only ethnic boundaries also... Following complaints, he was required in 1989 to stop practicing medicine in the southern parts of Nigeria marking as! To nothing in reducing HIV spread in cluding the approach to be adopted to women... [ 244 ], a `` practice associated with shameful female slavery came to stand for honor '' undergo that! For readers donaldson James, Susan ( 13 December 2012 ) their great move towards the of. With clitoridectomy and the first to be adopted to FGM/C women and they carry the throughout! Continued, reportedly driven by older women restore the pinhole size of practice! Mostly carried out on young girls, between infancy and 15 years of age and younger show downward! Circumcision, U.S. circumcision rates remain constant immediate reaction to its mention is to evoke revulsion,... Made clear that its victims were also its perpetrators in Senegal became the first to applied! It took the deaths of two girls in 1982, one of every ten girls and removal the!

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