Female Genital Mutilation Fgm in Ethiopia as Women\'s Rights

Female Genital Mutilation in Ethiopia: A Human Rights Issue

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a common phenomenon in Ethiopia, which has the highest rate of FGM among African countries, despite international and national efforts to eliminate the phenomenon. Why FGM persists despite these efforts to end the practice is an issue that puzzles scholars and activists, particularly because efforts to end FGM have seen some success outside of Ethiopia. Does the practice persist because it is not seen as damaging by people in the culture, which would make it an issue of cultural relativism? Some people suggest that the practice is one that is acceptable within the culture, and that the reaction against it is an example of foreign cultural ideals attempting to change Ethiopians' indigenous culture. On the other hand, one must ask: does the practice persist because of a disregard for women's rights, with FGM being simply another way to perpetuate male superiority in Ethiopia? While people can make salient arguments that FGM is simply an aspect of Ethiopian culture and that opposition to the practice is a hallmark of cultural intolerance, a real examination of the practice reveals that its goal is to preserve female sexual purity, which disregards a human's basic right to engage in sexual activity at will. Regardless of cultural norms, that right is a basic human right, and attempts to forcibly deprive a woman of that right are tantamount to rape. Therefore, one must conclude that FGM in Ethiopia persists because of a disregard for women's rights, is another way to perpetuate male superiority in a society, and is, therefore, a human rights violation.

Background

FGM, sometimes called female circumcision, is the practice of cutting away part of the external female genitalia. While the practice is treated as a single action, there are actually different degrees of FGM, and how FGM is practiced varies around the world. In Ethiopia, all three types of FGM are commonplace. First, FGM can involve a clitoridectomy, which is the removal of all or part of the clitoris. Some forms of clitoridectomy leave enough of the clitoris to preserve sensation, making it somewhat akin to male circumcision, while other forms of clitoridectomy remove the entire clitoris. The next most severe form of FGM is excision, which is the removal of the clitoris and the cutting of the labia minora. The most severe form of FGM is infibulations, which involves the first two components and then adds the stitching together of the labia majoria. This leaves a small opening in the vagina for urine and menstrual fluid. Moreover, with infibulation, the woman has to be reopened prior to having sexual intercourse. Infibulation is declining in Ethiopia, oftentimes being replaced with less severe forms of FGM.

As one might imagine, FGM is a painful procedure. It is also an extremely dangerous procedure. First, it is frequently performed under incredibly unsanitary conditions and with crude instruments including but not limited to things like broken glass. This is particularly true in Ethiopia, where FGM is not performed in medical settings, but in rural areas, and by practitioners with no medical training. The health consequences of FGM can be extreme. Obviously, it has a meaningful impact on the physiology of the woman involved, impairing sexual function for the woman. However, it can create problems beyond impairing sexuality, such as scarring, infections, infertility, and problems during labor if a woman does conceive. It is not unheard of for FGM to actually lead to death. In fact, "an estimated 15% of girls die postoperatively and those who do survive suffer countless ongoing complications and pain, as well as untold psychological suffering" (Carillet, Butler, and Stames 59). Even if the surgery were performed in the most hygienic of conditions and the risk of complications eliminated, the practice would still be horrific. "Healthy, sexually functional parts of the female body are removed without any medical indication whatsoever; restorative plastic surgery can only partially repair the damage" (Kool 52). However, in Ethiopia, restorative plastic surgery is not a possibility for victims of FGM. Finally, these health consequences do not end with the mother. "A landmark World Health Organization study provided clear evidence that complications during delivery are significantly more likely to occur among women with FGM/C. The study also found that FGM/C is harmful to babies, leading to an extra 1 to 2 perinatal deaths per 100 deliveries" (The Donors Working Group on Female Genital Mutilation / Cutting 3). The risk of complications in delivery increase in countries like Ethiopia, where childbirth is usually done outside of a medical setting and without the assistance of medical professionals.

Worldwide, because of widespread immigration, the practice of FGM is no longer geographically limited, and though its practitioners may cite religious reasons for the practice, it is also not limited by religion. It is associated with Islam, particularly in Ethiopia where much of the population is Muslim, but people of other religions practice it as well. Furthermore, the practice actually predates the Islamic religion, so its association with the religion is largely due to co-existence. It is not a religious dictate of Islam or any other religion. Likewise, FGM is not linked to any particular geographic area; not only has it spread throughout the world because of immigration, but it has been practiced, in some degree, in many cultures throughout the world. At this time, it is geographically most confined to the Middle East and North Africa, though it is widespread in many parts of Africa. FGM is a prevalent problem in Ethiopia, particularly in the Somali region of Ethiopia. It is important to understand that not only is FGM not a religious requirement of Islam, but it is also understood by Ethiopian immans that FGM is not a religious requirement. If the issue is to be considered one of cultural relevance, it will not be due to religion.

Analyses

One of the reasons that some Ethiopians believe that attempts to end FGM are an issue of cultural relativism is because of religious clashes between the West and Islam. However, while FGM may be correlated with Islam, the predominant religion in Ethiopia, it is critical to realize that it is not a religious requirement of Islam, which differentiates it from male circumcision and its relationship to Judaism. "Neither of the two main sources of Muslim law, the Koran and the Sunnah, mention the practice, and most Islamic scholars agree that it is not an Islamic religious rite" (Castledine). However, whether or not this practice is considered acceptable from a religious perspective may depend significantly on the religious leader in charge of the local area. For example, in the Somali village of Faffan in Ethiopia, the imam of the village mosque makes it clear that not only does Islam not require FGM, but that it does not permit the practice (Getachew). However, not all religious leaders share his interpretation of Islam, and, given the relative isolation of some areas of Ethiopia, the religious message that people receive may be tremendously dependent upon the views of the local religious leaders. Moreover, the official religious view may not be sufficient to overcome the cultural perception of the religious mandates regarding FGM, and many in the culture believe that FGM is required as part of their religious practices.

Furthermore, the idea that FGM is an non-Western, African, or even a specifically Ethiopian practice, making it impossible for people from the West to understand the motivations behind the practice are simply inaccurate. FGM has been practiced in the Western world by practitioners with no links to the Middle East, Africa, or Islam. While not currently used in the West, it has historically been used as a cure for female sexual "problems" like masturbation and homosexuality, as well as problems unrelated to sexuality, including epilepsy (Castledine). In other words, in the West FGM was used to limit the expression of women's sexuality. Though it is no longer used in the West, except by immigrants from non-Western countries, it is important to keep that perspective in mind when confronting the issue of whether FGM in Ethiopia is simply a matter of cultural relativism or whether it is a human rights issue. It is difficult to argue that it is a matter of cultural relativism if those cultures that oppose the practice engaged in it at one time.

While this paper will make the argument that FGM in Ethiopia is a human rights issue, it is important to recognize that is not the only perspective about FGM. One can make the argument that FGM is an issue of cultural relativism, and that its practice does not implicate human rights. This argument is based upon the idea that Western norms decry the procedure, while ignoring similar rituals in Western cultures. Instead of being a human rights issue, those who argue that FGM is a cultural norm might even go so far as to suggest that imposing Western norms on the cultural practices of indigenous persons, particularly in Africa, might be its own human rights issue, and demonstrate a consistent disregard for brown-skinned people.

To support that argument, proponents of FGM would mention that FGM is not the only form of body mutilation, and many of those mutilations are seen as acceptable in Western society, including, but not limited to: plastic surgery, tattooing, body piercing, scarification, and male circumcision. There are, however, significant differences between FGM and most of those practices. The largest difference is that FGM alters the function of the body. By removing a clitoris, one deprives a woman of her body's natural sexual functioning. Moreover, the more extreme versions of FGM can, and frequently do, have lifelong health consequences that take them outside of the range of other, cosmetic, forms of body modification. This is particularly true in Ethiopia, where infibulation remains a common form of FGM.

The second major difference is that most other body modifications are either reversible, such as piercing, or are done on consenting adults. For example, in the West, tattoos are done at adulthood. Moreover, even in non-Western societies that using tattoos or scarification as part of cultural rituals, they are generally used on "adults," though the age of adulthood may be adjusted downwards to reflect cultural differences. Worldwide, the vast majority of non-reconstructive plastic surgeries are conducted on adults, though this is not a hard or fast rule. There are no laws prohibiting doctors from performing cosmetic plastic surgery on minors, and there are certainly instances where teenagers have had plastic surgery with parental consent. However, medical ethical guidelines would certainly prohibit a cosmetic plastic surgery on an unwilling person, regardless of that person's age. It is that element of consent that really differentiates these body modification practices from FGM as it is practiced in Ethiopia. FGM, as described by people who have experienced it or witnessed it in that country, can hardly be described as a consensual practice. First, girls are most frequently far too young to be considered able to give consent to the practice, even when one has downward adjusted ages of consent to account for cultural norms regarding adulthood. For example, in Ethiopia it is not unusual for the procedure to be done on toddlers, and even infants. Second, the process is described as frequently brutal and violent, with practitioners forcibly holding down the young victims. While the traditional Ethiopian practice is to wait until girls are somewhat older, generally 7 or older, Ethiopian girls who have undergone FGM frequently discuss the deceit that accompanied the procedure, with mothers or other female relatives lying to them about what was going to happen to them. Nothing in those scenarios speaks to consent.

Another argument that people make in support of cultural relativism is the comparison to male circumcision, which is practiced, to some degree, around the world. This becomes a very interesting argument, particularly given that male circumcision is practiced at least among some groups of Ethiopian males so that Ethiopians could claim that circumcision is not gender-based in the country (Abusharaf 54). However, male circumcision rates in Ethiopia are much lower than FGM rates in Ethiopia (Abusharaf 54). In addition, there are significant differences between the practices. While there are mistakes in the circumcision process, the overwhelming majority of circumcisions leaves males with full sexual functioning and do not impede other bodily processes. Male circumcision is mentioned as a religious requirement in the Torah, rather than simply being a religious-related ritual. Circumcisions tend to be performed under far more sanitary conditions than FGM, and, at least throughout most of the West, are now performed with pain-killers, and with follow-up medical care. Even when male circumcisions are not performed under hygienic conditions, which is the case in Ethiopia, the risk of infection or other complication is significantly less due to the nature of the two different surgeries. Moreover, female circumcision has no positive health benefits, which differentiates it from male circumcision. There is some medical evidence suggesting that circumcised males may be less likely to contract HIV and have a lower lifetime likelihood of developing penile cancer; lowering the risk for HIV transmission in Ethiopia, which has staggering HIV / AIDS infection rates is a compelling reason to circumcise males. In contrast, FGM places females at greater risk for contracting HIV, which is especially risky in a country with HIV / AIDS rates as high as Ethiopia's.

However, perhaps the most important argument against using male circumcision as a means of promoting the cultural relativism argument to support FGM is that acceptance of male genital mutilation is its own example of cultural relativism. There are millions of people worldwide who find it to be a completely unacceptable form of child abuse to cut a functioning, non-diseased part off of a healthy baby. In other words, suggesting that one type of human rights violation should be tolerated simply because another possible human rights violation is tolerated does not obliterate concerns about human rights.

Another element that seems to argue in favor of the cultural relativism issue is that FGM is tied into the cultural background of Ethiopian society. That is certainly true: FGM plays a central role in how Ethiopians define women and their value, and can really determine a girl's future. For example, in Ethiopia there is significant social pressure to have the procedure performed, both on young girls and adult women, which may not exist in other areas that engage in the practice. These social pressures may be seen as part of the larger cultural landscape:

To make sure that people conform to the practice, communities have put strong enforcement mechanisms into place. These include rejection as marriage partners of women who have not undergone FGM, immediate divorce for unexcised women, derogatory songs, public exhibitions and witnessing of complete removal before marriage, forced excisions and instillation of fear of the unknown through curses and evocation of ancestral wrath. On the other hand girls who undergo FGM are provided with rewards, including public recognition and celebrations, gifts, potential for marriage, respect and the ability to participate in adult social functions (Dorkenoo).

The facts that so much of cultural life focuses on this procedure, and that there are social consequences for failing to have the procedure, offers some support for people suggesting it nothing more than an in-group cultural behavior for Ethiopians. However, there are multiple different cultural groups in Ethiopia, yet the practice of FGM is prevalent across cultures. It certainly cannot be suggested that FGM is a way of preserving a cultural identity against an outside group, when most of the outside group engages in the same procedure. Moreover, this incredible stigmatization actually provides evidence of anti-female sentiment, particularly when one considers that these behaviors are the same types of behaviors that have been levied at women who fail to comply with sexual norms, across all types of different cultures, it helps crystallize the understanding that FGM is a means of controlling women, not only sexually, but also socially.

Of course, because the practitioners of FGM tend to be much browner than the Western critics of the practice, one must be concerned about attacks on the practice regardless of where those attacks occur. This concern is only exacerbated when one looks at Ethiopia, where the citizens are black, not brown. There is a history of imperialistic, paternalistic, exploitative behavior by the West against non-Westerners, and many of those negative behaviors have been, at least superficially, motivated by a desire to help those who are considered inferior. Therefore, one must ask the following questions: Are these attacks motivated by feelings of cultural superiority? Do they represent an effort to marginalize the cultural practices of ethnic minority groups in the West? The reality is that any practice that is considered a human rights issue will be practiced by some people in some locations, leaving critics open to charges of cultural relativism. Slavery, torture, capital punishment of minors, rape, genocide, are only a few of the human rights violations that are committed in Ethiopia and the fact that they are being committed in an area that has historically been exploited and abused by Western society does not somehow make these reprehensible practices acceptable.

Furthermore, one cannot consider the practice of FGM in isolation when determining whether it is an issue of cultural relativism or a human rights issue; one must look at the rest of the community. In Ethiopia, FGM is but part of a broader picture, and to understand its impact, one must look at the problem holistically. The reality is that violence against women is a huge problem in Ethiopia. "On the family level, there is domestic violence, including assault, forced labor, coerced prostitution, sexual harassment in the workplace, spousal murder, battering, incest, child marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM), marital psychological abuse, and rape" (Milkias 226). In addition to individual-level violence, there is also a culture of violence towards women. "Community-wise, violence takes place in the form of rape and trafficking. On the state level, violence and abuse include beatings, custodial aggression, rape, sexual assault, and torture of women in situations of armed conflict" (Milkias 226). While it is impossible to find a country where these things do not happen to women, at least in some degree, Ethiopian culture has been accepting of the violence towards women. In fact, Ethiopian women are socialized from a young age to try to avoid violence, and, when violence is perpetrated against them, society does not respond aggressively towards the perpetrators (Milkias 226). When placed within this broader context, where Ethiopian women are subjected to routine violence and abuse in all levels of their lives, criticism of FGM cannot be dismissed as an imperialistic attitude that is insensitive to issues of cultural relativism. The culture may embrace the systemic abuse of women in all levels of society, but objections to those practices are valid because those practices constitute human rights violations. Treating a woman as less of a person than a man is a human rights violation, regardless of whether or not cultural norms encourage that treatment. This is particularly important when one considers that, worldwide, there is not a single culture that does not or has not, historically, encouraged the treatment of women as inferior to men.

Like many human rights violations, there are economic incentives driving the practice of FGM in Ethiopia. These economic incentives do not make the practice simply a cultural issue, even if the economics of the issue impacts people within the culture on a micro-level. Perhaps the most clear-cut economic motivator is the fact that, in Ethiopia, women who are circumcised are considered far more eligible on the marriage-market than uncircumcised girls. Because the marriage-ability of girls impacts the financial status of an entire family in poor countries, whether or not a girl can find a husband is a critical issue for Ethiopian girls and their parents. In fact, in areas where FGM is a common practice, like the Somali region of Ethiopia, some mothers express regret that they have put or plan to put their girl children through the procedure, but worry that, if they fail to do so, the girls will be unable to find husbands (Getachew). For many Ethiopian women, FGM is not only an assault but also an important right of passage. In fact, some women who have not undergone the procedure complain that they were not cut because of problems finding mates. Moreover, some Ethiopian men maintain that they will not marry an intact woman, even after hearing testimony from women and girls who have been harmed by the practice (Getachew). The secondary economic impact is that the women who perform this procedure frequently make their livings performing the procedures; outlawing or reducing the procedures leaves a group of women economically vulnerable, which is devastating in a poverty-stricken country like Ethiopia, where women have few economic alternatives. However, these women, who are most able to report on the immediate negative consequences of the procedure, are also least likely to report on them because doing so reduces their ability to support themselves.

In addition, one has to consider that the major economic factor driving FGM in Ethiopia is that it impacts the marriagability of young women. The very fact that a woman marrying is considered a source of income, not only for the woman, but for the entire family, speaks to the commoditization of women and immediately raises red flags about female human rights in Ethiopia. While women may not be officially bought or sold, the transmission of wealth in exchange for marriage certainly suggests a lack of freedom of choice in marriage for Ethiopian women. Moreover, the fact that some Ethiopian men would continue to insist upon having a wife who had undergone FGM, even in the face of testimony from women and girls about the harmful impact the procedure had on them, is one of the facts that make it clear that the ritual is aimed at controlling Ethiopian women.

Furthermore, when one examines the underlying, theoretically cultural reasons given to support the practice of FGM in Ethiopia, one sees the same type of concerns that consistently arise when a culture attempts to suppress or punish female sexuality. "FGM is intended by its practitioners to both control women's sexual drives and also to cleanse women's genitalia by removing the clitoris which is seen as masculine, a female penis" (Castledine). However, Ethiopian practitioners give other reasons for the practice as well, and, while these reasons may be based in cultural traditions, they are not supported by medical facts:

Reasons given in the Horn for genital mutilation vary from hygiene and aesthetics to superstitions that uncut women can't conceive. Others believe that the strict following of traditional beliefs is crucial to maintaining social cohesion and a sense of belonging, much like male circumcision is to Jews. Some also say that it prevents female promiscuity (Carillet, Butler, and Stames 59).

Throughout history, across cultures, there have been attempts to eliminate the female expression of sexuality. Though these attempts may not all have been as severe as FGM, the fact that they have occurred across cultures suggests that critics of FGM in Ethiopia are not simply objecting to cultural practices.