Are We Equals?

In order to understand FGM, we must understand equality amongst woman, and man. Many people do not associate these three letters with agony however, we must start.

A Ritual of Agony

FGM (female genital mutilation) is a practice of circumcising women. This practice has been widely known as a primary, and a "normal" practice in Africa. FGM is argued to help the spread of STD's in Africa.

Female genital mutilation is classified into four types:

Type I: Also known as clitoridectomy, this type consists of partial or total removal of the clitoris and/or its prepuce.

Type II: Also known as excision, the clitoris and labia minora are partially or totally removed, with or without excision of the labia majora.

Type III: The most severe form, it is also known as infibulation or pharaonic type. The procedure consists of narrowing the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning the labia minora and/or labia majora, with or without removal of the clitoris. The appositioning of the wound edges consists of stitching or holding the cut areas together for a certain period of time (for example, girls’ legs are bound together), to create the covering seal. A small opening is left for urine and menstrual blood to escape. An infibulation must be opened either through penetrative sexual intercourse or surgery.

Type IV: This type consists of all other procedures to the genitalia of women for non-medical purposes, such as pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization.

Immediate consequences of FGM include severe pain and bleeding, shock, difficulty in passing urine, infections, injury to nearby genital tissue and sometimes death. 

The procedure can result in death through severe bleeding leading to hemorrhagic shock, neurogenic shock as a result of pain and trauma, and overwhelming infection and septicemia, according to Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

“The pain inflicted by FGM does not stop with the initial procedure, but often continues as ongoing torture throughout a woman’s life”-Nowak

Let me be clear, this practice does not happen exclusively in Africa, it is a wide spread idea practiced through out the world. Even in America, Often times what will happen is that a family will return to their country and preform FGM on their daughters.

Why is it Practiced?

There are several reasons provided to justify the practice of female genital mutilation:

• Control over women’s sexuality: Virginity is a pre-requisite for marriage and is equated to female honor in a lot of communities. FGM, in particular infibulation, is defended in this context as it is assumed to reduce a woman’s sexual desire and lessen temptations to have extramarital sex thereby preserving a girl’s virginity.
• Hygiene: There is a belief that female genitalia are unsightly and dirty. In some FGM-practicing societies, unmutilated women are regarded as unclean and are not allowed to handle food and water.
• Gender based factors: FGM is often deemed necessary in order for a girl to be considered a complete woman, and the practice marks the divergence of the sexes in terms of their future roles in life and marriage. The removal of the clitoris and labia — viewed by some as the “male parts” of a woman’s body — is thought to enhance the girl’s femininity, often synonymous with docility and obedience. It is possible that the trauma of mutilation may have this effect on a girl’s personality. If mutilation is part of an initiation rite, then it is accompanied by explicit teaching about the woman’s role in her society.
• Cultural identity: In certain communities, where mutilation is carried out as part of the initiation into adulthood, FGM defines who belongs to the community. In such communities, a girl cannot be considered an adult in a FGM-practicing society unless she has undergone FGM.
• Religion: FGM predates Islam and is not practiced by the majority of Muslims, but it has acquired a religious dimension. Where it is practiced by Muslims, religion is frequently cited as a reason. Many of those who oppose mutilation deny that there is any link between the practice and religion, but Islamic leaders are not unanimous on the subject. Although predominant among Muslims, FGM also occurs among Christians, animists and Jews.

Saving just one girl means breaking the cycle and saving a generation.     

Female genital mutilation, in any form, is recognized internationally as a gross violation of human rights of girls and women.

The practice denies women and girls their right to:

• Physical and mental integrity
• Freedom from violence
• The highest attainable standard of health
• Freedom from discrimination on the basis of sex
• Freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments
• Life (when the procedure results in death).

The Numbers:

100 - 140 million women worldwide have undergone FGM. 

3 million girls and women undergoing the procedure every year. 

Prevalent in about 28 African countries and among a few minority groups in Asia. 

There are many immigrant women in Europe, Canada, and the United States who have undergone FGM. 

507,000 women and girls living in the U.S. are at risk of or have undergone FGM,


15% of all circumcised women have undergone the most severe form of FGM—infibulation.
Approximately 80% to 90% of all circumcisions in Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan are of this type.

Female genital mutilation has been a crime in the UK since 1985. An estimated 65,000 girls aged 13 and under are at risk of mutilation. 

Zero prosecutions.