Is Female Circumcision Torture?

Is Female Circumcision Torture?

Female circumcision, better known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), is an ugly monster finally rearing its head from out of the depths of time. The practice of FGM occurs throughout the world, but it is most common in Africa. It can attack a girl at any age, with a little prompting from her society, and the aid of an unsuspecting human wielding a knife. Usually, it is performed from a few days after birth to puberty, but in some regions, the torture can be put off until just before marriage or the seventh month of pregnancy (Samad, 52). 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. Women that have gone beyond the primary level of education are much less likely to fall victim to the tradition (Men's..., 34). The average victim is illiterate and living in a poverty-stricken community where people face hunger, bad health, over-working, and unclean water (Female..., 1714). This, however, is not always the case.

As one can see in the following story of Soraya Mire, social classes create no real barriers. Soraya Mire, a 13-year-old from Mogadishu, Somalia, never knew what would happen to her the day her mother called her out of her room to go buy her some gifts. When asked why, her mother replied, I just want to show you how much I love you. As Soraya got into the car, she wondered where the armed guards were. Being the daughter of a Somalian general, she was always escorted by guards. Despite her mother's promise of gifts, they did not stop at a store, but at a doctor's home. This is your special day, Soraya's mother said. Now you are to become a woman, an important woman. She was ushered into the house and strapped down to an operating table. A local anesthetic was given but it barely blunted the pain as the doctor performed the circumcision. Soraya was sent home an hour later. Soraya broke from her culture's confining bonds at the age of 18 by running away from an abusive arranged marriage. In Switzerland, she was put in a hospital emergency room with severe menstrual cramps because of the operation. Seven months later, the doctor performed reconstructive surgery on her. Now in the U.S., Soraya is a leading spokeswoman against FGM (Bell, 58). In addition to being active in the fight against FGM, she is an American filmmaker. She has come a long way.

Being well educated about the facts of FGM also brings to light the ugly truth. It is happening on American soil, insists Soraya. Mutilations are occurring every day among immigrants and refugees in the U.S. (Brownlee, 57). Immigrants have also brought the horrifying practice to Europe, Australia, and Canada (McCarthy, 14). Normally, it is practiced in North and Central Africa (Men's..., 34), the Middle East, and Muslim populations of Indonesia and Malaysia (Female..., 1714). Although it seems to have taken root in Muslim and African Christian religions, there is no Koranic or Biblical backing for FGM (Men's..., 34). Many times female circumcision is treated as a religion in itself. It can be a sacred ritual meant to be kept secret forever. As a woman told poet Mariama Barrie, You are about to enter Society, and you must never reveal the ritual that is about to take place. (Barrie, 54). The ritualistic version of FGM is much more barbaric than the sterile doctor's world that Soraya Mire passed through. Mariama Barrie had to endure the most severe form of FGM at the tender age of ten. Mariama's torture is known as infibulation. There are three major forms: “Sunna” circumcision, Clitoridectomy, and Infibulation. Sunna circumcision consists of the removal of the tip of the clitoris and/or the prepuce (covering). Clitoridectomy, also referred to as excision, consists of the removal of the entire clitoris (both prepuce and glands) and removal of the adjacent labia. Infibulation, also referred to as pharaonic circumcision, is the most extreme form. The clitoris is removed as well as the adjacent labia and the scraped sides of the vulva are joined across the vagina. The sides are secured with thorns or sewn with catgut or

thread, allowing a small opening for the passage of urine and menstrual blood. Excision is a clitoridectomy and sometimes the removal of the labia minora; Sunna is the only type that can truthfully be called circumcision. It is a subtotal clitoridectomy (Female..., 1714). To put this in perspective, infibulation would be like cutting off a man's penis completely, cutting the testicles to the groin, and making a hole in them to have the semen siphoned out (McCarthy, 14). But still, it can get worse. The instruments that can be used to perform the operation are usually crude and dirty. They can include kitchen knives, razor blades, scissors, broken glass, and in some regions, the teeth of the midwife. Because of this, there are many dangers threatening the victim. The most immediate danger is exsanguination: there is no record of how many girls bleed to death because of this operation (Female..., 1715). Other physical consequences include infection, gangrene, abscesses, infertility, painful sex, difficulty in childbirth, and possibly death (Men's..., 34).

Re-infibulation is carried out on women who are divorced or who become widowed. When a woman marries or remarries she must be de-infibulated, enlarging the enclosed vulva. In some parts of Africa this must be done by the husband on the wedding night, using a piece of glass or wood. In the northern part of Somalia a midwife opens up the woman on her wedding night in the presence of her husbands relatives. Besides the initial pain of this operation there are long-term physiological, sexual and psychological effects. Unsanitary conditions result in infections of the genital and surrounding areas and often results in the transmission of the HIV virus. Other side effects include: hemorrhaging, shock, painful scars, keloid formation, labial adherence, clitoridal cysts, delayed menarche, genital malformation, urinary infection and pelvic infections. When the woman is older she will most likely have gynecological and obstetric problems including