Female Genital Mutilation
Female Genital MutilationGenital mutilation has been present in society since ancient times. Today it is present throughout the world, with some forms being readily accepted into educated western societies. While cases of female genital mutilation spark public outcries, it is interesting to note that male circumcision does not, despite involving hurting innocent minors, having negative repercussions on the child and, in most cases, and providing no medical benefits. In fact there are very few cases where genital mutilation is performed for medical reasons, which contradicts the doctors oath, thus making doctors who perform circumcisions and the like, hypocrites. This, and the fact that it directly contradicts parts of the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is the basis of many people's protests about the practice. Mutilation is defined as being "Disfigurement or injury by removal or destruction of any conspicuous or essential part of the body" (Stedman's Medical Dictionary, 26th Edition
Bearing in mind that the practice of genital mutilation breaks at least three international documents listing the rights of every human being; one is forced to ask why medical practitioners still perform female circumcisions. html United Nations, 1998, Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www. Thus should not be practiced because it goes against a moral code as well as a medical oath. Often called female circumcision, this practice involves one of several types of procedures. It is also my belief that circumcision should be a procedure performed for medical reasons only, unless the person undergoing the operation is legally old enough to decide for himself. " This was labeled as Hippocratic as circumcision is not a medically beneficial procedure in most cases. This definition includes female circumcision, as many practitioners believe the clitoris is an essential part of the female genitalia. html UNICEF and the Medicalization of Female Genital Mutilation, 1999 [Online, accessed 1Dec 2001] http://www. The procedure is often used as a means of protecting the virginity of the woman, and to control her sexual desires. The procedure is often irreversible both with the physical and mental scars it leaves. html United Nations, 1998, Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.
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