The best way to put an end to this ritual is to educate women, men and especially young girls. Teach them that these rituals do more harm than any good. The World Health Organization website discusses some short term and long term consequences of female circumcision:
FGM [female genital mutilation] has no health benefits, and it harms girls and women in many ways. It involves removing and damaging healthy and normal female genital tissue, and interferes with the natural functions of girls' and women's bodies.
Immediate complications can include severe pain, shock, hemorrhage (bleeding), tetanus or sepsis (bacterial infection), urine retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to nearby genital tissue.
Long-term consequences can include:
• recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections;
• cysts;
• infertility;
• the need for later surgeries. For example, the FGM procedure that seals or narrows a vaginal opening (type 3 above) is surgically changed to allow for sexual intercourse and childbirth, and sometimes stitched close again afterwards;
• an increased risk of childbirth complications and newborn deaths.
World health organization. (2008). Female genital mutilation. Retrieved on August 6, 2009 from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/index.html
I know what you mean Allison, this practice is terrible!! You would think education would help, but I am not so sure. First off, they probably wouldn’t believe you. They may think YOU are crazy! Just think if someone came in and turned your world upside-down by telling you something you do all the time to protect yourself, and your parents and grandparents have done for generations, is actually harmful. You would have a very hard time believing it. And on top of it, they do not just do it for physical reasons. How can you provoke a culture change?
ReplyDeleteI watched the same video and the whole time I was crossing my legs, cringing, and feeling very sick to my stomach. I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like for young girls and women to experience FGM. I think you are absolutely right about education. If these cultures could only be aware of the absolute truths as opposed to just myth and religion. I do not want to insult anyone's religious practices, but it is so important that people as well as the women that comply to these practices, to understand what kind of physical and mental harm they are being subjected to.
ReplyDeleteI am still STUNNED by this video!!! I knew that this practice related to "cultural/religious beliefs", but I never thought the reality of it would be based on complete NONSENSE!!! It is one thing to believe in religious "rites of passage", like the Jewish circumcision ceremony, but to tell a young woman that she needs to have it done so that her clitoris doesn't cause her brain to explode is ridiculous and deplorable! How do these people think the rest of the world survives? They obviously have no grasp of what the human body can and cannot do. The most basic anatomy and physiology education is way overdue. I wonder what would happen if a group of mothers went there to educate. How would the elders explain to these girls why the uncircumcized educators were able to have children and live to tell about it?
ReplyDeleteHi Allison,
ReplyDeleteI think it is very important to openly discuss an issue as sensitive and complicated as female genital cutting(FGC), so I would like to thank you for addressing it. I am a volunteer who has started the Female Genital Cutting News Blog at http://fgcdailynews.blogspot.com/ to track all news stories related to the practice of FGC, as I feel that awareness and education are the first steps towards change- as you mentioned in your post. I would also like to point out that success stories are out there- especially through the work of Tostan, an NGO based in Senegal and working in 8 countries in West and East Africa (www.tostan.org). Their respectful approach and human rights-based, community-led program has led to the abandonment of FGC by thousands of communities across West and East Africa.
Thanks again for discussing this important issue!
-Emma