February 6
International Day On Zero Tolerance to FGM
When culture harms the girls - the globalisation of female genital mutilation |
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Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a surgical procedure
performed on the genitals of girls and women in many parts of the world. The
term FGM covers a range of procedures, which are also referred to as female
circumcision and introcision.
FGM is found extensively in Africa and is
also indigenous to other parts of the world. The age and time at which FGM is
practised differs from community to community, and can be carried out from as
early as a few days after birth, to immediately after the birth of a woman's
first child. One of the notable trends in global FGM today is the progressive
lowering of the age at which girls undergo the practice.
Among
communities that practise FGM, the procedure is a highly valued ritual, whose
purpose is to mark the transition from childhood to womanhood. In these
traditional societies, FGM represents part of the rites of passage or initiation
ceremonies intended to impart the skills and information a woman will need to
fulfil her duties as a wife and mother.
The function of this practice,
whether mild or severe, is ultimately to reduce a woman's sexual desire, and so
ensure her virginity until marriage. The more extensive procedure, involving
stitching of the vagina, has the same aim, but reducing the size of the vagina
is also intended to increase the husband's enjoyment of the sexual act.
Discussions, conducted for the purposes of this report, with women who
have undergone the procedure, revealed that penetration was almost always
difficult and painful, even for the man, when women had undergone the more
extreme forms of FGM.
Certain communities carry out FGM for religious
reasons, believing that their faith requires it; this is particularly true of
Muslims who adhere to the practice. Other communities consider female genitalia
to be ugly, offensive or dirty, and thus the removal of the external genitalia
makes a woman more hygienic and aesthetically pleasing. Some subscribe to the
notion that FGM enhances a woman's fertility, and the chances of her children's
survival.
All members of communities practising FGM have a role in
perpetuating it. Families of girls or women who undergo FGM support it because
it makes their daughters marriageable - the operation ensures that their
daughters will have ready suitors and a satisfactory bride price.
In
these communities, no eligible man would consider marrying a girl who has not
undergone the procedure, so FGM makes a woman culturally and socially
acceptable. It is in this important way that female genital mutilation is
supported and encouraged by men.
Women in the community have a role too,
as it is they who arrange for and perform the operation. Typically, the
procedure is arranged by the mother or grandmother and, in Africa, is usually
performed by a traditional birth attendant, a midwife, or a professional
circumciser.
In communities practising FGM there is literally no place
for a woman who has not undergone the procedure. Such societies have sanctions,
which are brought to bear on the woman and her family, ensuring that the woman's
relatives enforce compliance. Other circumcised girls will no longer associate
with her. She is called derogatory names, and is often denied the status and
access to positions and roles that 'adult' women in that community can occupy.
Ultimately, an uncircumcised woman is considered to be a child.
In
traditional societies that offer women few options beyond being a wife and a
mother there is great pressure to conform. Women who lack the education to seek
other opportunities are doubly constrained in terms of the choices open to them.
These women also typically come from communities that do not have alternatives
to the traditional economy and modes of production, such as farming, fishing or
pastoralism.
Even educated women from such communities are often faced
with the FGM dilemma for themselves and their daughters. In Kenya, a female
member of parliament (MP) had to face her earlier decision not to be circumcised
when she made the choice many years later to run for public office. Her
opponents used the fact that she was not circumcised to challenge her
eligibility to hold a position that "only adults" could occupy. The MP's name is
Linah Kilimo and today she is a minister in Kenya's National Rainbow Coalition
government.
FGM in a Global Society
In the modern world few
places exist in isolation, untouched by other cultures. The creation of nation
states, which brought together many communities within common borders, as well
as the forces of globalisation, have contributed to the blurring of boundaries
in all societies.
Institutions that bring new norms in religion,
national policy and legislation, and on a more individual level, education and
intermarriage, create new options for societies. Sociocultural clashes arise as
communities, ideas and cultures attempt to blend.
The dilemma facing
people in this newly globalised world is showcased by the experience of one
Senegalese couple. The woman, from a non-circumcising community, married into a
society whose FGM prevalence was 70 percent. From the outset, the couple agreed
that they would not circumcise their two daughters. The man's family, however,
was insistent that the girls undergo the ritual and, realizing that this was no
idle threat, the couple barred their daughters from visiting the man's family
unescorted, lest the girls be forcefully abducted and cut, as is common when
parents reject the practice. An additional, chilling threat awaited the wife -
her sisters-in-law vowed that though she remained uncircumcised in life, they
would circumcise her in death.
Different Forms of FGM
1.
Type I (commonly referred to as clitoridectomy)
Excision (removal) of the
clitoral hood, with or without removal of all or part of the clitoris.
2.
Type II (commonly referred to as excision)
Excision (removal) of the
clitoris, together with part or all of the labia minora (the inner vaginal
lips). This is the most widely practised form.
3. Type III (commonly
referred to as infibulation)
Excision (removal) of part or all of the
external genitalia (clitoris, labia minora and labia majora), and stitching or
narrowing of the vaginal opening, leaving a very small opening, about the size
of a matchstick, to allow for the flow of urine and menstrual blood. Also known
as pharaonic circumcision.
4. Type IV
(Unclassified/Introcision)
Pricking, piercing or incision of the clitoris
and/or labia:
• Stretching the clitoris
and/or labia
• Cauterisation by burning of the
clitoris and surrounding tissues
• Scraping of
the vaginal orifice or cutting of the vagina
•
Introduction of corrosive substances into the vagina to cause bleeding, or
introduction of herbs into the vagina to tighten or narrow it
• Any other procedure that falls under the definition
of female genital mutilation
Type 1 and type 2 operations account for 85
percent of all FGM. Type 3 is common in Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan and parts of
Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal. Type 3,
also known as pharaonic circumcision, is extremely severe and involves binding a
woman's legs for approximately 40 days to allow for the formation of scar
tissue. Many of these communities use adhesive substances such as sugar, eggs,
and even animal waste on the wound to enable it to heal.
The excisor
often has to reopen the vagina to allow for easier childbirth, and then
re-stitch it after birth, leaving it as small as before, or slightly larger to
reduce painful intercourse. Frequently the excisor is called on a girl's wedding
night to open her up so she is able to consummate her marriage.
Health
complications associated with FGM
Although it is widely known that
FGM can have devastating and harmful consequences for a woman throughout her
life, because most communities practising it are very poor and do not have
access to modern health facilities, medical emergencies arising from FGM are
common, and often lead to death.
It is difficult to determine the actual numbers of women who
die from FGM-related complications, given the highly guarded nature of the
practice. Medical record-keeping systems are also rarely configured to record
FGM and FGM-related complications as causes of death.
The health problems
a girl can experience are largely dependent on three factors.
First, the
severity of the procedure: girls and women who undergo type II and type III are
likely to experience more severe health complications, but health consequences
for type I have also been widely reported.
Discussions with a doctor on
the possible medical effects of type I FGM found that complications were most
evident during childbirth, due to the reduced elasticity of the vagina caused by
scar tissue formed as a result of the surgery. To compensate for the reduced
elasticity during childbirth, tiny tears are caused around the vagina. These are
too small to stitch, and end up forming more scar tissue, compromising the
vagina's elasticity even further. Labour becomes longer and more painful with
each subsequent birth. The tears themselves predispose the woman to infection,
while her ability to experience sexual satisfaction is undermined, as the
tearing leads to an ever-loosening vagina.
Second, the sanitary
conditions in which the procedure is performed, and the competence of the person
who performs it: most circumcisers are professionals with years of experience,
but the tools and sanitary conditions of their trade are often rudimentary at
best, with knife-like implements or razor blades used as the basic surgical
instruments.
Close adherence to traditions that dictate what type of
instrument is suitable do not allow for innovation, or the adoption of new, more
suitable instruments that may be available. Typically, the circumcision ceremony
takes place once a year and all eligible girls within a community are cut on the
same day, using the same instrument - without the benefit of sterilisation
between procedures - thus increasing the chances of infection, and the risk of
exposure through such practices to HIV/AIDS.
Third, the health of the
girl or woman undergoing the procedure, and her ability to heal and resist
infection passed on by the procedure, is critical: if a woman is prone to
infection, or has a poor immune system, she has a greater chance of becoming
infected. Literally, only the strong survive.
The secret nature of FGM
poses a great threat to the health of girls and women who undergo it. It is
highly confidential, and outsiders are strictly prohibited from having any
contact with the girls and women during and after the ceremony. Therefore, most
of them have no access to a medical professional, should they need one during or
after the procedure.
The 40-day isolation that characterises type III
FGM, for example, means a woman might die of infection before she ever gets the
chance to receive proper medical care. When qualified medical personnel perform
FGM in the sanitary conditions of a hospital, the risk of infection may be
reduced, but the long-term consequences remain.
Some immediate physical
problems resulting from FGM are:
1. Bleeding (often haemorrhaging from
rupture of the blood vessels of the clitoris), sometimes leading to death
2. Post-operative shock
3. Damage to other organs, resulting
from the lack of surgical expertise of the person performing the procedure, and
the aggressive resistance of the patient when anaesthesia is not used
4.
Infections, including tetanus and septicaemia, through using unsterilised or
poorly disinfected equipment
5. Urine retention caused by swelling and
inflammation
Some longer-term consequences include:
1. Chronic
infections of the bladder and vagina:
- in Type III, the urine and menstrual
blood can only leave the body drop by drop
- the build-up inside the abdomen
and fluid retention often cause infections and inflammation that can lead to
infertility
- infections and inflammation that can lead to infertility
2. Dysmenorrhoea, or extremely painful menstruation
3. Excessive
scar tissue at the site of the operation
4. Formation of cysts on the
stitch line
5. Childbirth obstruction, which can result in:
- the
development of fistulas
- tearing of the vaginal and/or bladder wall
-
chronic incontinence
6. Risk of HIV infection. (There is a growing
speculation of a potential risk of HIV/AIDS associated with the procedure,
especially when the same unsterilised instruments are used on multiple girls,
but this has yet to be scientifically proven.)
7. Reinfibulation must be
performed each time a child is born. When infibulation (Type III) is performed,
the opening left in the genital area is too small for the head of a baby to pass
through. Failure to reopen this area can lead to death or brain damage of the
baby, and death of the mother. The excisor must reopen the mother and re-stitch
her again after the birth. In most ethnic groups the woman is re-stitched as
before, leaving the same tiny opening. In other ethnic groups the opening is
left slightly larger to reduce painful intercourse. (In most cases, not only
must the woman be reopened for each childbirth, but also on her wedding night,
when the excisor may have to be called in to open her so she can consummate the
marriage.)
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There is a dearth of scientific studies on the psychological
effects of FGM on girls and women. In the course of conducting research for this
study, discussions were held with some women who had undergone one or other form
of FGM. This information does not claim to be scientific, nor is it a substitute
for a scientific approach, but it does begin to provide some insights on the
possible psychological impact of FGM on survivors.
Some of the
psychological impacts of FGM appear to be pavlovian in nature and
effect:
- women who have undergone any form of FGM or its attendant
painful rituals are so traumatized that they can only associate their genitals
with pain and possible death from childbirth, of which there is always a much
higher possibility than with uncircumcised women
- the idea of sexual
intercourse as a pleasurable activity is inconceivable for most of
them
The complexity of the psychological effects of FGM on women is
demonstrated by the stories of Jane and Hawa, who underwent type 2 (excision)
and type 3 (infibulation) FGM respectively.
Jane's
Story
Jane comes from a community in Kenya which practises type II
FGM (excision), where the compliance rate is 97 percent. She is from an educated
family and has a PhD. Her husband is equally highly educated. They have two
children.
According to the customs of her community, Jane underwent the
procedure at the age of 14. She discussed how sex had always been an unpleasant
chore for her, and although she no longer experiences any pain, she has no
sexual response and sex has no meaning for her.
Jane also spoke of the
difficult childbirth she experienced, which she attributes to the circumcision.
She is grateful to have an understanding husband who does not demand more than
the two children they have. Her experiences convinced both her and her husband
that their daughter must not go through the procedure.
Hawa's
Story
Hawa comes from Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa with a
90 percent compliance rate, practising types 1, 2, and 3 FGM. She is from a
community that performs type 3 (infibulation). Hawa has lived in the United
States since the 1980s, when she fled political persecution in her homeland.
She is now a naturalised American citizen, holding a doctorate and
teaching at a University in the US, where she is a widely published and
respected scholar. Hawa is divorced from a fellow Eritrean and has one child, a
six-year-old girl.
She told IRIN of the devastating psychological
effects she believes FGM has had on her, commenting that although she retained
the ability to experience sexual pleasure, she experienced it in a distant,
muted form. The act of sex has never brought her enjoyment, and she believes
this contributed to the breakdown of her marriage.
However, when
questioned about whether or not she would circumcise her daughter, Hawa revealed
an interesting ambivalence. Before she had borne a child, she was clear that FGM
was a terrible practice, which should be eliminated. Today, as the single mother
of a girl she is bringing up in America, she has tempered her opposition to FGM
somewhat.
Her concern comes from what she perceives as the highly
sexualised community in the US - everywhere there are images of sexual freedom
and images that objectify the role of women as sexual beings. Among the African
American community in particular, sexual freedom has been taken to an extreme in
which young girls often have children with more than one father. Inevitably,
their focus on achievement in other areas, such as education, career and so on,
is compromised. Many of these teenage mothers swell the ranks of the welfare
system.
Hawa wants everything for her daughter, and although she is not
an indigenous African American, she and especially her daughter, are perceived
as African American, and subject to many of the same pressures and limitations.
Further, she feels, the image of African Americans has been glamorised in music,
the media and film - "this community is probably the most imitated by young
people the world over".
In such an environment, the prospect of her
daughter's full-blown sexuality frightens Hawa. She sees it as a potential
Achilles' heel, which could lead her daughter down the path of low achievement,
early pregnancy and welfare dependence. Incredible as it may seem, Hawa is
adamant that an FGM procedure guaranteed to reduce her daughter's sexual urges
to a shadow looks attractive.
FGM and Religion
FGM is
often associated with Islam, and there are people who believe that Islam
sanctions it. The fact that type I is also called the 'Sunna' procedure (meaning
'following the Prophet's tradition') is often used as evidence for this
contention. However, it is found among both Muslim and Christian populations,
and is a cultural practice that predates both religions. Type 3, or
'infibulation', also known in Sudan and Ethiopia as the 'pharaonic procedure',
was most likely practised in ancient Egypt.
Prevalence of FGM
FGM is most widely practised on the African continent. It is
found among more than half the communities in sub-Saharan African countries and
in at least 26 out of 43 countries. The prevalence ranges from 98 percent in
Somalia to 5 percent in Zaire. It is also indigenous to some Middle-Eastern
countries, including Egypt, the Republic of Yemen (primarily coastal areas),
Oman (in limited numbers throughout the country but more widespread in the
southern coastal region), Saudi Arabia (among a few immigrant women and some
Bedouin tribes and residents of the Hejaz) and Israel (among a very small number
of women in a few Bedouin groups in the south).
FGM is also found among
some Muslim groups in Indonesia, where the most common form is type IV, also
known as 'incision'. This involves some form of symbolic pricking, scraping or
touching of the clitoris. In Malaysia, among a very small number of Muslims in
rural areas, the procedure carried out is much more ritualistic. It includes a
symbolic prick, a tiny ritual cut to the clitoris, or a blade being brought
close to the clitoris.
In Pakistan the Bohra Muslims in the largest
cities of Sindh and Punjab provinces also perform FGM.
Introcision is
also practised in several other countries around the world. In Peru it is found
among the Conibos, a division of the Pano Indians in the northeast, and has also
been reported in Australia among the Pitta-Patta Aborigines.
FGM is also
increasingly found in North America, Europe, New Zealand and Australia, owing to
the large immigrant communities living in those parts of the
world.
The International response to FGM
The international
community is identifying FGM more and more as a harmful traditional practice,
and a violation of the fundamental human rights of girls and women. Global
efforts to bring an end to the custom of female genital cutting are increasing,
with many nations putting in place legislation against the practice, and a
number of international organisations making the elimination of FGM a priority.
The United Nations has designated 8 February as the "International Day of Zero
Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation".
Legislation against
FGM
In Africa, thirteen countries have responded to the problem of
FGM by implementing legislation against it: According to "Center for
Reproductive Rights" there are 16 countries with criminal legislation against
FGM: www.crlp.org
Benin (2003 = the date legislation was
implemented),Burkina Faso (1996), Central African Republic (1966), Chad (2003),
Côte d'Ivoire (1998), Djibouti (1994), Egypt (Ministerial Decree, 1996),
Ethiopia (2004), Ghana (1994), Guinea (1965), Kenya (2001), Niger (2003),
Senegal (1999), Tanzania (1998), Togo (1998), Nigeria (multiple states,
1999-2002).
There have been reports of prosecutions or arrests in cases
involving FGM in various African countries, including Burkina Faso, Egypt,
Ghana, Kenya, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
Ten industrialised countries
that receive immigrants from countries where FGM is practised have also passed
specific laws criminalising the practice: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark,
New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In Australia, six out of eight states have passed laws against FGM. In the
United States, the federal government and 16 states have criminalised it. In
France, existing legislation has been used to prosecute FGM practitioners and
parents procuring the service for their daughters.
Some countries, such
as the US, recognise forced FGM as a basis for asylum. In 1996, Fauziya
Kassindja became the first woman to win asylum in the US on the grounds that she
would be subjected to FGM if deported to her native Nigeria. However, a heavy
burden of proof is placed on women seeking asylum on the basis of FGM or
gender-based persecution.
Anti-FGM laws have been applied in various
countries, as described in the cases below, but a full analysis of the
legislation against FGM is explored in a subsequent article in this Web Special
report.
Kenya
Two teenage girls secured a landmark ruling on 13
December 2000, when a magistrate's court issued a permanent injunction barring
their father from having them circumcised.
The United States of
America
In 2003 a southern California couple was arraigned in a Los
Angeles federal court to answer charges of conspiring to circumcise two female
minors. This was the first time the law had been applied in the
US.
France
In 1993 a medical practitioner was charged with
performing female circumcision, with the full knowledge that the practise was
illegal. He was found guilty and can no longer practise his
profession.
FGM and international
organisations
International organisations have highlighted the
dangers of FGM and thrown their weight behind the cause for eradicating the
practice.
The UN's Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China,
held in September 1995, recognised FGM as a harmful traditional practice against
women and girls.
The International Conference on Population and
Development, in Cairo in September 1994, condemned FGM as a harmful practice,
and encouraged governments not only to prohibit it but also to give their
support to NGOs and religious institutions working to eliminate the practice.
The World Conference on Human Rights, in Vienna in 1993, addressed FGM
as a violation of women's rights.
Alternative Rites to
FGM
More recently, an 'alternative rites' strategy is being used by
NGOs in FGM-practicing communities. This strategy is intended to retain the
rites of passage or initiation that the girls would traditionally undergo, with
the exception of FGM. The girls are still encouraged to learn what it means to
be a woman in their respective communities, but do not have to endure the agony
of the cut. This procedure is being tested in several communities around the
world and has registered some success.
However, alternative rites have
also faced serious opposition, and even led to lowering of the age at which FGM
is practised in certain communities. The Maasai of Kenya, for example, responded
to aggressive anti-FGM campaigns by cutting girls as young as four, rather than
teenage girls.
Conclusion
FGM is a practice that violates
the basic human rights of women and girls and seriously compromises their
health. Nevertheless, among communities that practise FGM it is a highly valued
tradition, making eradication difficult.
Nevertheless, there are also
success stories. As individuals become better informed about the negative
impacts of FGM, there has been a reduction in the practice and today there are
few communities in which 100 percent of girls and women are circumcised.
Local organisations are working to eradicate the custom in many
communities, and are achieving a higher level of success because they are able
to communicate more easily with the people, whereas foreigners may appear to be
ignorantly judging their traditions.
Over the last two decades, many
countries have designed legal frameworks that criminalise FGM and protect women
and girls who challenge the status quo, forcing those who continue to advocate
it to reconsider their position and actions. In many cases, communities have
fully or partially abandoned the practice in favour of non-FGM initiation
ceremonies.
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February 6th, 2006
International
Day On Zero Tolerance to FGM
The
Inter-African Committee
(IAC)
Thanks
to The collaboration of the High Commission on Human
Rights
Help
us make their voices be heard…..
Welcomes you to join us to celebrate this important Date
Palais
Wilson,
February
6th, 2006
10.00 am
In 2003 at the International Conference on Zero Tolerance on Female Genital
Mutilation (FGM) the 6th of February has been declared as the International Day
to be observed every year. Since its declaration the day has been observed
worldwide with the objective of raising international awareness on the problem
of harmful traditional practices (HTPs) in general and FGM in
particular.
February 6th has been recognized by
the UN, the African Union, and the Women Ministers of Foreign Affairs during the
High Level Meeting at the 60th Session of the Commission on Human Rights held in
March 2004.
On this day a call is launched for
political commitment and concrete action to save women and girls from this
gruesome and cruel practice.
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