Cutting Out the Devil

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Cutting Out the Devil F e m a l e

Ge n i tal

Muti lati o n

By Olivia Jackson

“I saw dried blood on the jagged edge of the blade. She spat on it and wiped it against her dress… The next thing I felt was my flesh, my genitals, being cut away. I heard the sound of the dull blade sawing back and forth through my skin.”1

Type 4 — Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping, and cauterizing the genital area.3 The age at which FGM is performed also varies. In Ethiopia, it is soon after birth. Elsewhere it is shortly before marriage. Generally, however, girls are operated on between the ages of 4 and 14. FGM is practiced in 28 African nations, some Middle Eastern nations such as Yemen, and in other parts of the world, such as Indonesia.While it is not a requirement of any major religion, it is performed on girls from Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities. The practice affects 100-135 million women and girls who have already been operated on, and a further 2-3 million more each year.That’s 6,000 to 8,000 per day, or up to six girls per minute. Immigrants in Western nations sometimes bring the practice with them: The African Women’s Health Center at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston used the 2000 Census to estimate that 228,000 women in the United States either have had FGM or are at risk, and the number has risen 35 percent since 1990.4 Canada, Europe, and Australia have similar statistics, and report girls being taken back to their nation of origin to have FGM performed during school vacations. Records of FGM being practiced date back at least 3,000 years. Its origins lie in ensuring female fidelity and thus paternity confidence (infibulation, Type 3, creates a “chastity belt” of scar tissue across the vaginal opening). It slowly became a matter of family honor, ensuring virginity and therefore marriageability. Many of these beliefs still stand, alongside others. Meanings are added as time goes by — something which is a symbol of purity and honor can quickly become seen as aesthetic too. Myths about FGM include that it makes a woman smell more attractive to her husband, that it is necessary for hygiene and

“They see it as an act of love, they see it as preparing their child for adulthood.”2 Controversy surrounds the custom of female genital mutilation. Even the name itself has been the subject of dispute: Circumcision? Cutting? Mutilation? Western physicians attending to circumcised women in the 1970s quickly decided that “circumcision” did not nearly describe the practice. Activists argue that “cutting” also implies a simpler procedure and result than the procedure often entails, yet for those whose traditions require it, “mutilation” indicates Western judgment of a misunderstood custom. For the purposes of this article I shall refer to it as female genital mutilation (FGM), in line with international legal norms and the increasing number of women from practicing cultures who have become advocates against it. The World Health Organization (WHO) definition states: “Female genital mutilation comprises all surgical procedures involving partial or total removal of the external genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for cultural or nontherapeutic reasons.” They classify four types of FGM: Type 1 — Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris and sometimes the prepuce (clitoral hood). Type 2 — Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are “the lips” that surround the vagina). Type 3 — Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal, formed by cutting and sewing together the remainder of the outer labia, with or without removal of the clitoris.

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