Female Genital Mutilation Research Paper

Female Genital Mutilation also known as female circumcision is the partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia, or other harm caused to the female genital organs for cultural or other non-medical reasons. FGM began in Africa many years ago and still has effect on many women today.
There are four different types of female circumcision. The most common is type 1. Type 1 is called clitoridectomy, which is the removal of part or the entire clitoris. Clitoridectomy is widely spread throughout areas from Malaysia and Indonesia in Asia to Saudi Arabia and Yemen in the Middle East.
Type 2 is the second most common. Type 2 is known as Excision. Excision is the partial or entire removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with
or without excision of the labia majora. Excision is mostly practiced in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Type 3 is the third most common. Type 3 is called infibulation.
Infibulation is ablation of the external genitalia, sometimes accompanied with stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening. Type 3 is mostly practiced in the Sudan, parts of Egypt, Somalia, Mali, and parts of Nigeria.
Type 4 is any other type of harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, such as piercing, incising, and scraping.
There are many different reasons for women to undergo FGM. The causes of FGM include a mix of cultural, religious, and social factors within the family and the community. In many cultures if a girl is not circumcised she is considered “unclean” and therefore she is unmarriageable. In other cultures and religions they circumcise women to show faithfulness towards her husband, for family honor, cleanliness, protection against spells, and insurance of their virginity. A woman who rebels against a community where circumcision is regularly practiced by not circumcising her daughter may bring danger to her family’s social and economic support system. In West Africa circumcision was performed to treat masturbation, insanity, epilepsy, and hysteria. According to the World Health
Organization, “between 100 to 140 million girls and women wold wide are living with the consequences of FGM. In Africa, about 92 million girls age 10 years and above are estimated to have undergone FGM.” “First until recently in the societies in which it is practiced, circumcision has been regarded as a necessary condition of life. The concept of female (and male) circumcision, as with many traditions, can be invisible until people are forced to examine it. This may explain why nearly half of the Nigerians in one study gave as their reason for the practice, “It is the custom of our people.” A 36-year-old Ethiopian woman explained, “I had the foreskin on my clitoris removed as a baby, just like my brother... why does everyone say it is so terrible and that i should have problems from it?” Circumcised female genitalia are considered normal to some Africans, just as circumcised male genitalia are normal to many Americans. As a 40-year-old infibulated Somali woman explained, “I want doctors to know that the way I look is normal for me.” A woman may desire circumcision to be marriageable, or chaste, for aesthetics, or to conform to tradition. Reason for deeply rooted traditions are often difficult to articulate, and therefore are easily discounted.” (Horowitz) FGM has no real health benefits and causes many women to have a variety of health problems. More than half of circumcised women have experienced medical complications. FGM causes infections and pain in the abdomen, mainly when menstruating. Women who have had FGM are twice as likely to die during child birth and they have more of a chance to give birth to a stillborn child than other women, and because of FGM a newborn child is more at risk of maternal and child morbidity because it obstructs the birth canal. Medically untrained people will usually perform the surgery with no anesthesia in an unsanitary, non-medical place.
Many women go into shock while undergoing FGM from the pain and the bleeding. “Traditionally, a young girl is held down by one or more family members, while the midwife uses a sharp tool, such as a knife, broken piece of glass, or a specific cutting tool to excise the foreskin of the clitoris, and/or the labia. Often times, these tools are not clean -- resulting in infections on the spread of viruses.” FGM also may possibly cause transmission of HIV/AIDS and other viruses. Some women recall their circumcision as a traumatic and painful experience while others women have no memory of the procedure or only recall a
celebration.
Circumcision still has effects on many women today. Circumcision can be helpful or harmful, it really depends on the way you view it. For many people its just a way of life and in their culture if the women don’t get circumcised bad things can come of it. Most American women think that it is wrong and that no woman should have to go through all of that pain and suffering. Women who do undergo go circumcision don’t see it that way and they do it because that’s what they where taught and that’s the way they live where they come from.

Work Cited
“Answer to Your Questions about Female Circumcision.” National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers. 9/07 Web.
“Female Genital Mutilation.” TRIPOD. 10 April 2000. Web. 21 Nov 2011.
“Female Genital Mutilation.” World Health Organization. Feb 20, 2010. Web. 22 Nov 2011.
Horowitz, Carol R. MD,MPH. et al “Female Circumcision.” Society of General Internal Medicine 1997. Web. 16 Nov 2011
Raymond, Laura et al. “Female Genital Mutilation- The Facts” Web. 21 Nov 2011
UNICEF. “ Female Genital Mutilation/ Cutting: A Statistical Exploration 2005.” Web.