Female Genital Mutilation-- Another Grotesque Aspect Of Conservatism

We don't talk about female genital mutilation in public. It's rude-- but, so is DWT, so let's take a look, since it is in the news today. More on that in a moment. The World Health Organization defines the practice of female genital mutilation 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." It's a barbaric throwback to a time when women were property and it is practiced all over the Third World. 98% of women in Somalia have gone through it-- as have over 27 million Egyptian women. Worldwide, at least 125 million women have undergone this kind of torture. Immigrant families in Europe and Asia have been forcing their daughters to undergo the procedure and it has been criminalized in the West. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that 168,000 girls in America has undergone genital mutilation. Wikipedia has a relatively straight-forward explanation for how this primitive practice has survived.

Among the reasons practitioners cite as benefits of FGM, according to UNICEF in 2013, are hygiene, social acceptance, marriageability, preservation of virginity/reduction of female sexual desire, male sexual pleasure, and religious requirement. Infibulation is said by several sources to enhance male sexual pleasure; Gruenbaum reports that men seem to enjoy the effort of penetrating their wife's infibulation.

Most often cited is the promotion of female virginity and fidelity. Infibulation almost guarantees monogamy because of the pain associated with sex and the difficulty of opening an infibulation without being discovered. Uncircumcised women are seen as highly sexualized; philosopher Martha Nussbaum argues that the practice presupposes women to be "whorish and childish." The primary sexual concerns vary between communities. Rahman and Toubia write that the focus in Egypt, Sudan and Somalia is on curbing premarital sex, whereas in Kenya and Uganda the purpose is to reduce a woman's sexual desire so that her husband can more easily take several wives. In both cases, they argue, the aim is to serve the interests of male sexuality.

Female genitals are regarded within communities that practise FGM as dirty and ugly; physicians Miriam Martinelli and Jaume Enric Ollé-Goig write that the preference is for women's genitalia to be "flat, rigid and dry." The animist Dogon people of Mali believe that the clitoris confers masculinity on a girl and the foreskin of a boy makes him feminine, and perform FGM to differentiate more clearly between the genders.There are also various myths about the clitoris: that it will keep on growing, will harm a baby if it comes into contact with the baby's head, and can make men impotent. A more practical reason for FGM's continuance is that the circumcisers rely to some extent on the practice for their living.

The Daughters of Eve in the U.K. are fighting to protect girls from the barbarism practiced, illegally, in some immigrant communities there. Their definitions leave little to the imagination:

Types of FGM

FGM describes any deliberate, non-medical removal or cutting of female genitalia. Different regions and communities practice various forms of mutilation. Some forms of cutting are quite common and they are classified as shown below.

It is not unusual to not know what type of FGM you may have. It can be difficult to understand what form your vagina takes after FGM, whether or not you still have labia or a clitoris, whether your vaginal opening is closed. We hope this information will help people to better understand their FGM and to be able to be able to describe their FGM to their partners or to healthcare workers.

Type 1 FGM

Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals) and, in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris).

This practice is extremely painful and distressing, damages sexually sensitive skin and is an infection risk.

Type 2 FGM

Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are the ‘lips’ that surround the vagina).

This practice is extremely painful and distressing, damages sexually sensitive skin and is an infection risk.

Type 3 FGM

Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and sewing over the outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris or inner labia.

This practice is extremely painful and distressing, damages sexually sensitive skin and is an on-going infection risk. The closing over of the vagina and the urethra leaves women with a very small opening in which to pass urine and menstrual fluid. The opening can be so small that it needs to be cut open to be able to have sexual intercourse. Cutting is also needed to give birth and can cause complications which harm both mother and baby.

A now the news: for the first time ever, two men, Dr. Dhanuson Dharmasena and Hasan Mohamed have been charged under Britain's Female Genital Mutilation Act. The two performed the mutilation in a public hospital in north London following a patient giving birth in November 2012.

FGM has been a criminal offence in England and Wales since 1985, when the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985 was passed. The Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 repealed and replaced the 1985 act in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It also made it an offence for UK nationals or permanent UK residents to carry out FGM abroad, or to aid, abet, counsel or procure the carrying out of FGM abroad, even in countries where the practice is legal. The maximum penalty was also increased from five to 14 years' imprisonment.

Under section 1(1) of the Female Genital Mutilation Act (2003) a person is guilty of an offence if he excises, infibulates or otherwise mutilates the whole or any part of a girl or woman's labia majora, labia minora or clitoris.

John Cameron, the NSPCC's head of child protection operations, said: "This is great news for the fight against FGM. The fact that we hadn't previously had a prosecution in the UK for this child abuse despite it being a crime for almost 30 years is unacceptable.

"Today's announcement by the Crown Prosecution Service sends out a strong message that they are taking FGM seriously. FGM is a public health issue that needs increased collaboration from professionals across health, education and the police."

Commander Mak Chishty, the lead officer for the Association of Chief Police Officers on FGM, said: "Across the country, police are working extensively to investigate and build strong cases against those suspected of inflicting or aiding or abetting female genital mutilation.

"Female genital mutilation is a barbaric crime that has no place in modern day Britain. The police are committed to working closely with health services, schools, colleges, social services and third sector organisations which have an understanding of this form of abuse and can help us reach those who may be at risk.

"Prosecutions of those who continue this horrific and outdated practice should signal a warning to those who've committed or are considering inflicting female genital mutilation as well as anyone who assists them or stays quiet when they know this abuse has been committed; we are pursuing offenders and working to bring them to justice so that we can protect victims-- some of them painfully young-- and stamp out this appalling crime."