Female Genital Mutilation
The practice of female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, occurs throughout the world, but it is most common in Africa. Female genital mutilation is a tradition and social custom to keep a young girl pure and a married woman faithful. In Africa it is practiced in the majority of the continent including Kenya, Nigeria, Mali, Upper Volta, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Mozambique and Sudan. It is a cross-cultural and cross-religious ritual, which is performed by Muslims, Coptic Christians, Protestants, Catholics and members of various indigenous groups. Female genital mutilation is usually performed on girls before they reach puberty. It is a procedure where either part or the entire clitoris is surgically removed leaving a reduced or total lack of sexual feeling. This procedure is an attempt to reduce the sex drive of women, making them less likely to be sexually active before marriage or engage in extra-marital affairs. Although this procedure can be seen as a means to control a woman's sexuality, the act of female circumcision determines the gender identity of women. A circumcised woman is a virgin, ready for marriage and to bear children for her husband, "Girls who are infibulated will probably not fi
" Female genital mutilation is practiced in three major forms: "Sunna" circumcision, Clitoridectomy, and Infibulation. Going against this custom would be refusing to follow in their mothers, grandmothers, and aunts footsteps, which would bring shame against herself and tarnish her family honor. The importance of family honor, virginity, chastity, purity, marriageability, and childbearing in these societies cannot be overstressed. Unsanitary conditions result in infections of the genital and surrounding areas and often results in the transmission of the HIV virus. A woman who is infibulated will be less likely to engage in pre-marital intercourse and adultery. In some parts of Africa this must be done by the husband on the wedding night, using a piece of glass or wood. org/fgm/Kouba, Leonard and Judith Muasher1985 Female Circumcision in Africa: an Overview. Although female genital mutilation is illegal in some countries of Africa, this has not reduced the number of girls mutilated each year. In Kenya, many girls are circumcised between the ages of eleven and fifteen while in the Ivory Coast the operations are performed as a village puberty rite. Infibulation, also referred to as pharaonic circumcision, is the most extreme form. Meanwhile, the circumcisor "uses a knife-like instrument reserved specifically for this purpose; after each operation she simply wipes the knife on a piece of cloth, sometimes rinsing it in water first. These instruments are used on several girls in succession without being sterilized and the patient is rarely given anesthesia. In most cases they will become outcasts. Sunna circumcision consists of the removal of the tip of the clitoris and/or the prepuce (covering). " Before the operation takes place there is a small ceremony where the girl drinks tea and sometimes eats sweets and snacks.
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