Female Genital Mutilation (2007)

'We should stop telling them that FGM is violating the human rights of their girls; instead, we should say, "FGM is killing your baby boys."'

Adwoa Kwateng-Kuvitse

Female genital mutilation (FGM), as defined by the WHO, is 'the partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural or any other non-therapeutic reason'. FGM is sometimes known as female circumcision or cutting. The WHO has distinguished four types of FGM that include the total or partial removal or the labia and/or clitoris. Please click here for more detailed information. FGM has been inflicted with a range of sharp implements, including scissors, shards of glass, knives, sharp rocks and razors. As a consequence of FGM, holes, known as fistulae, may occur during childbirth between the vaginal wall and the bladder or the rectum and the vaginal wall. In Nigeria, around 80% of reported fistula cases are due to unrelieved obstructed labour during childbirth (FORWARD).

FGM and fistula have severe health consequences for the victim. Whilst death as a result of haemorrhaging is sometimes a consequence, side effects range from pain, shock, psychological damage, infection to the urinary tract, pelvis, uterus and vagina, to complications during pregnancy and childbirth (which can result in death for both the mother and child), difficulties in menstruating and permanent damage to the reproductive system. These side effects are exacerbated in circumstances where girls cannot receive adequate medical treatment because they are poor, in a rural area and lack transportation to medical facilities, or simply because the people around them are ignorant of the risks.

FGM is practised in, and communities from, 28 countries in Africaand the Middle East, and the Muslim communities of Indonesia, India, Malaysia and Pakistan. Whilst the practice of FGM is defended on the grounds of religious or cultural traditions, or to increase hygiene, FGM is fundamentally a violation of human rights. It is not a religious requirement and defences are rooted within contexts that do not see women as equal to men. Perhaps the most common defence for FGM is that it will preserve a woman's chastity and keep her faithful to her husband. Moreover, it infringes on a woman's right to control her own body, sexuality and sexual and reproductive health.

In children, FGM contravenes the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child, as well as all child protection laws. In the UK, the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 (enacted in 2004) closed a loophole to make it an offence to take a girl out of the country for FGM, regardless of whether FGM is legal in that country or not. The maximum penalty for performing or procuring FGM was raised from 5 years to 14 years imprisonment.

A study recently published by FORWARD estimated that, in England and Wales, there are almost 16,000 girls in under the age of 15 that are at high risk of WHO Type III FGM and over 5,000 at high risk of WHO Type I or Type II FGM.

In 2006, FORWARD held a consultation event with young people from communities affected by FGM to implement their Young People Speak Out project. The project will give the young people culturally sensitive and interactive training on FGM, as well as child and forced marriage, in order to empower them to campaign and speak out against FGM in their communities. Through this project they will also be producing Bridges Magazine to document the reflections and showcase the creative work of the young people.

ORGANISATIONS & WEBSITES

Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development (FORWARD)

http://www.forwarduk.org.uk/

FGM National Clinical Group

http://www.fgmnationalgroup.org/

UNICEF - FGM/Cutting

http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_genitalmutilation.html

UNFPA - Ending FGM/Cutting

http://www.unfpa.org/gender/practices1.htm

POLICY & RESEARCH

Factsheet on FGM
World Health Organisation 2000

Female Genital Mutilation: Human Rights & Cultural Relativity
Efua Dorkenoo 2001