The Injustice of Female Genital Mutilation

The horror of female genital mutilation is a global issue, and it is also one surprising foreign to Americans although an estimated ten thousand girls in the United States are currently at risk of this operation (Sarkis par. 1). This is a cultural practice that is both unethical and incredibly detrimental to its victims besides obviously being in direct violation of basic human rights. In order to attain a broader view of this issue the following will be examined: basic information about this practice, organizations fighting it, current news pertaining to it, recent academic articles evaluating it, and the question of how it can be stopped. FGM has recently been receiving growing media attention due to the controversy surrounding it, but the newfound attention is also in hopes that widespread awareness will bring about change. Female genital mutilation, or FGM when abbreviated, is also known as female circumcision, but this practice is far more drastic than male circumcision and is actually more comparable to a surgery in males where the entire penis is removed (Sarkis par. 4). FGM is classified into three different categories based on the extent of the procedure, but it usually entails the removal or the clitoris and/or the adjacent labia. The third degree of FGM is so severe that the female must be cut open to engage in sexual intercourse from that point on (Sarkis par. 5). This surgery is commonly performed in unsanitary conditions with unclean sharp tools like razor blades, kitchen knives, scissors, and pieces of glass (Sarkis par. 6). Female children usually undergo this procedure at three years of age (Sarkis par. 10). Sarkis also states, "Besides the obvious initial pains of the operations, FGM has long-term physiological, sexual, and psychological effects" (par. 7). It is done for a number of reasons ranging from the prevention of marital infidelity to using it as a cultural rite of passage, but more numerous than the reasons behind it are the

Cited: Adinma, J.I.B. "Practice and Perceptions of Female Genital Mutilation Among Nigerian Igbo Women." Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology 19.1 (1999): 44-49. Crossette, Barbara. "Senegal Bans Cutting Off Genitals of Girls." New York Times 18 January 1999, late ed.: Al+. Kluge, E.W. "Female Genital Mutilation, Cultural Values and Ethics." Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology 16.2 (1996): 71-77. Sarkis, Marianne. "Female Genital Mutilation: An Introduction." The Female Genital Mutilation Education and Networking Project. 1995. 1 Dec. 2001 http://www.fgmnetwork.org/intro/fgmintro.html.