Posted On: 2022-02-08 15:01:38
Human beings began to evolve about a million years ago and progressed through a few stages of evolution. With time, new inventions and discoveries have led to the development of our environment, multiple processes, and with new living patterns as well.
We have evolved and developed so much that we have reached the moon and other planets. Yet there are some old-age traditions and rituals that are still followed. These traditions do not benefit us or have no relevance to the well being of the society. One of those is Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
Female Genital Mutilation comprises procedures involving the removal of the external female genitalia or another injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. Most often, FGM is practiced on girls and young women under 18.
How is it practiced?
The procedure is carried out at a variety of ages, ranging from shortly after birth to sometime during the first pregnancy. But most commonly occurs between the ages of 0 to 15 years. The procedure is carried out by a traditional circumciser with non-sterile devices like- knives, razor blades, scissors, glass, sharpened rocks, and fingernails.
Types of FGM:
It is classified into four types:
Also known as Clitoridectomy, this type consists of partial or total removal of the external part of the clitoris and/or its prepuce (clitoral hood).
Also known as excision, the external part of the clitoris and labia minora(also known as inner lips) are removed or partially removed, with or without excision of the labia majora (also known as outer lips).
It is also known as infibulation or pharaonic type. This procedure consists of narrowing the vaginal opening with the creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning the labia minora and/or labia majora, with or without removal of the external part of the clitoris. The appositioning of the wound edges consists of stitching or holding the cut areas together for a certain period (for instance, girls’ legs are bound together), to create the covering seal. A small opening is left for urine and menstrual blood to escape.
This type consists of all other procedures to the genitalia of women for non-medical purposes, such as pricking, piercing, incising, scraping, and cauterization.
The seal covering that the stitches create after the procedure is opened at a certain age for intercourse and childbirth.
Recent WHO studies state that around 90% of cases include clitoridectomy, excision, or cases where girls’ genitals are nicked but no flesh is removed (like in type 4), and about 10% are infibulations.
Consequences of FGM
FGM is not prescribed by any religion and has no health benefits. The practise is rooted in gender inequality, attempts to control women's sexuality, and ideas about purity, modesty, and beauty.FGM is a societal construct carried out by women, who see it as a source of honor, and who fear that failing to have their daughters and granddaughters cut will expose the girls to colonial exclusion. Following are a few consequences caused by FGM:
A serious injury: When girls are cut, they face the immediate risk of hemorrhage, shock, serious injury, a range of infections – and even death, when hemorrhage or infection is especially severe. Infection and tetanus threaten girls’ lives when unsterile or rusty tools are used to cut their flesh and the risk is especially high when the same tool is used for multiple girls.
Can cause lifelong problems: Girls and women who undergo FGM often experience long-term health consequences including scarring, cysts, abscesses, and other tissue damage, infertility, and increased susceptibility to infections. They may experience difficulty and pain when they menstruate, urinate or have sexual intercourse. Some girls who experience urinary retention, a common side effect of infibulation, have likened the unbearable pain they feel every time they urinate to the feeling of salt being rubbed into an open wound.
Life-threatening childbirth complications: FGM can cause serious and even life-threatening complications during childbirth. Scar tissue may not stretch enough to accommodate a newborn, making delivery even more painful than usual making it more likely that the woman will need a C-section intervention. The risk of prolonged, obstructed labor is heightened for women who have undergone FGM and puts the mother and the child at threat of dying.
They feel traumatized: Girls have to go through the procedure at a very young age. They feel deeply betrayed by the parents who insisted they be subjected to FGM. The procedure is performed by unknown people for the girls and is forced on them. These girls cannot even deny it as it leads to societal abandonment. The post-surgery pains and troubles last a lifetime which they have to suffer from without treatments.
Studies found that many girls suffered from appetite, mood, cognition, and sleep disorders after undergoing the procedure for a long time.
Additional risks for complications from infibulations include urinary and menstrual problems, infertility, later surgery (defibulation and reinfibulation), and painful sexual intercourse. Sexual intercourse can only take place after opening the infibulation, through surgery or penetrative sexual intercourse. Consequently, sexual intercourse is frequently painful during the first weeks after sexual initiation, and the male partner can also experience pain and complications.
Ending FGM by 2030
200 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM. female genital mutilation. It is a universal problem and is also practiced in some countries in Asia and Latin America; and continues to persist amongst immigrant populations living in Western Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
To promote the elimination of female genital mutilation, coordinated and systematic efforts are needed, and the problem must be eradicated from all the grounds of human rights and gender equality.
Although the practice has been around for more than a thousand years, there is hope that female genital mutilation could end in a single generation. In 2012, the UN General Assembly designated February 6th as the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, with the aim to amplify and direct the efforts on the elimination of this practice by 2030 following the spirit of Sustainable Development Goal 5. FGM learning is so important in schools, to empower young women to equip them with the tools needed to report potential cases, understand the signs that someone may be at risk of FGM or have gone through it. By educating people on the harmful consequences of FGM and changing the attitudes and perceptions of those from practicing communities, we start to open up the conversation and will begin to see positive change.
Imagine the pain that our sisters have to go through!
Imagine the trauma it causes them!
They do not have an option to say NO, as it comes down to social or even family acceptance.
This cruel act needs to stop anyhow.
It's time that we end this! Let's join hands, take decisive steps against it, and spread awareness of this horrendous act.
Author : Anjali patel
Ready to Start a Fundraiser ?