Female Genital Mutilation: Global Review and Analysis

Introduction and Types of FGM

There are four types of female genital mutilation (FGM), according to an article in the British Journal of Midwifery (Momoh, 2004, p. 631). Type 1, called clitoridectomy, involves the "excision of the clitoral prepuce" and may also involve the excision of all or part of the clitoris. Type 2 involves the cutting away of the clitoris from the body, and may also include the excision of "all or part of the labia minora." Type 3, called infibulation, involves "excision of part or all of the external genitalia and the stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening." Type 4 refers to all other procedures in which a female's genitals are cut.

How many females have been subjected to FGM in any of the four types described above? Momoh writes that worldwide it affects "more than 120 million women," and in addition, "an estimated two million girls are circumcised each year." According to another article in the British Journal of Midwifery (Sihwa and Baron, 2004, p. 717), "an estimated 100–130 million girls and women in the world have undergone FGM," and around two million girls are "at risk" annually.

Beyond those initial figures, Sihwa writes that "the practice of FGM and its consequences affect an estimated 80 million women in the world," and the places where FGM is most common include Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

Global Prevalence and Geographic Distribution

FGM is also practiced in regions of western countries where immigrants from Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East have settled. In London, a doctor was recently banned from practicing after being videotaped "agreeing to circumcise an eight-year-old girl" and agreeing to "stitch two older girls." English law — the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 — makes it an offense to "excise, infibulate or otherwise mutilate the whole or any part of the labia majora or labia minora or clitoris" of a female.

"More needs to be done" to educate and train midwives, Sihwa asserts, pointing out that at a recent conference in London, fewer than five of 50 midwives in attendance were aware of the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985, notwithstanding the fact that it had been in place for 20 years.

The country with the highest incidence of FGM is Somalia, Momoh writes; approximately 98% of women undergo FGM to one degree or another, due to "entrenched cultural beliefs." Momoh suggests that the "nomadic existence" of many Somalis reduces the possibility of widespread education regarding the harmful nature of the practice. What is more troubling — beyond the fact that 98% of females are cut — is that "the practice is largely conducted by people untrained in surgery (parents, grandparents, and traditional birth attendants, using unsterile utensils)."

The crude, unskilled nature of these procedures inevitably leads to complications and long-term health problems, Momoh continues. Following the procedure, the female's wound is often rubbed with herbs, salt water, sugar, and "camel feces," and the legs are then "bound together" for several days. These procedures are often carried out without anesthesia, and quite frequently they are performed on girls "too young to give consent."

Cultural, Religious, and Social Justifications

What are the justifications offered for FGM? Sihwa writes that some cultures believe "that the clitoris is poisonous and dangerous and will cause a man to sicken or die" if the clitoris comes into contact with the penis. Another belief is that an "unmodified clitoris" leads to lesbianism. Still another belief holds that FGM "makes a woman's face more beautiful and prevents vaginal cancer."

Momoh writes that in Somalia, several justifications are offered for FGM: "maintaining cultural, traditional and religious norms"; ensuring that females "remain pure until they get married"; and increasing the "marriage eligibility of daughters," including a higher dowry for a virgin. There are also parents who have FGM procedures performed on their daughters because they wish to protect young girls from "being raped by men" or from participating in "illegal sex" prior to marriage.

According to the website ReligiousTolerance.org, FGM is a "social custom, not a religious practice." That said, in Muslim countries where FGM — referred to as "sunna" — is practiced, and has been practiced (originally in the time period "al-jahiliyyah," meaning "the era of ignorance") for perhaps as long as 2,000 years, there are two passages attributed to the Prophet Mohammed that appear to promote FGM, though these are considered questionable at best and inaccurate at worst in scholarly communities.

Although the Qur'an, the Old Testament, and the New Testament offer no guidance on the subject of FGM, the "Sunnah" — reportedly the words and deeds of the Prophet Mohammed — does contain several references to the practice. In one Sunnah account about a woman performing infibulation on slaves, she is said to have commented to Mohammed that she would continue the procedure unless it were "forbidden and you order me to stop doing it." Mohammed allegedly replied, "Yes it is allowed. Come closer so I can teach you: if you cut, do not overdo it, because it brings more radiance to the face and it is more pleasant for the husband." On another occasion, Mohammed is alleged to have said to the Ansars' wives, "Cut slightly without exaggeration, because it is more pleasant for your husbands."

The Muslim Women's League quotes renowned scholar Sayyid Sabiq as describing all such quotations as "non-authentic." Indeed, many Muslims believe the Qur'an "promotes the concept of a husband and wife giving each other pleasure during sexual intercourse." In 2:187 of the Qur'an: "It is lawful for you to go in unto your wives during the night preceding the (day's) fast: they are as a garment for you and you are as a garment for them."

An article in the British Journal of Midwifery ("Gender and Daily Life in Ethiopia") notes that the practice of FGM is "perpetuated by women, but justified in gendered terms. It is commonly held that without having been circumcised, a woman will find it difficult to marry or will be difficult for her husband to control." FGM is also used to reduce "sexual urges, to keep women docile."

Conclusion

A research article in the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy (Bishop, 2004, pp. 473–497), taking a broad intellectual perspective, states that "nothing challenges" the tolerance of Western liberalism "like the practice of sunna." The Western critique of sunna, the article continues, "often maps onto the bodies of African women Western symbolic notions of sexual and political freedom, as symbolized in the clitoris."