Female Genital Mutilation

Female Genital Mutilation, also known as FGM, is a practice that involves the cutting or removal of external gentitals for cultural, religious, or non therearputic reasons. “Over 100 million women and young girls living today have experienced some form of FGM with millions more being affected annually” (Llamas). There are four ways FGM is done. The first way is by the excision of the prepuce which can happen with or without excision of all or part of the clitoris. The second way FGM can be done is by the excision of the clitoris with either partial or all excision of the labia minora. The third way it can be done is through the excision of part or all of the external genitalia. The vaginal opening is stitched or narrowed. The last type includes all other procedures for non medical purposes such as piercing, pricking, scraping, cauterizing , and incising the clitoris and/or labia.

There was another study done in 1970 that asked women in Iraq what their view on FGM was. The different views women had on FGM stated, “Factor 1, entitled “positive cultural tradition”, centers on recognizing female genital cutting as a positive cultural aspect and an essential part of the Kurdish culture. Factor 2, “active opponents”, positions around actively opposing the practice of female genital cutting and considering the practice a violation of human rights. Factor 3, “role of law”, stresses the importance of developing and enforcing the law for combating female genital cutting. Factor 4, “health concerns and passive opposition”, represents the perspectives of recognizing the importance of health concerns resulting from female genital cutting and opposition of the practice but not in an active manner. A consensus perspective, “marital role”, centers primarily on lack of effect of female genital cutting on women’s marital role” (Yasin 1970). The results of this study were that FGM is still continuing and popular in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, which is interesting due to so many people who protest and campaign against it.

A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that in 1990, approximately 168,000 women and girls had undergone or were at risk of FGM in the United States. Out of these women and girls, about 48,000 were below the age of 18. This led to the Congress passing the Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act in 1996, making the perfromance of FGM on girls under the age of 18 illegal. After an update on the previou study done by CDC, there was a 35% increase in the data in the year 2000, making the new number of women and girls that have undergone FGM or at the ridk of it to 227,877 women and of these, 62,519 are under the age of 18. It is hypothesized that the numbers has risen due to “large increases in the U.S. population of women and girls born in or with ancestry from FGM practicing countries” (Goldberg). Congress passed another law in 2013 called the Transport for Female Genital Mutilation Act, which made it a crime to take a girl out of the country for FGM. Only 35 states have specific laws against FGM as of August 2019.

In Tanzania, women typically ungergo FGM as an infant or past the age of 13 by traditional pacticioners. Article 21 of the Secual Offence Special Provisions Act 1998 is the main law that punishes FGM. It prohibits FGM on girls under the age of 18 and can result in the offence of child cruelty. Around 95% of women believe that FGM should be stopped and do not believe that it is a religious requirement. According to 28TooMany, “the overall prevalence for women aged 15-49 fell from 14.6% to 10%.” It is assumed, by looking at the data, that there is “lower prevalence among younger women although a small number of women may be cut after the age of 15.

Female Genital Mutilation or FGM is prevalent in Egypt to this day for several reasons. The main motive why this country continues to take part in this abusive practice is because, men are more inclined to marry a woman who has gone through FGM, as well as FGM supporters, claim that it is for religious purposes in the Egyptian community. There have been laws passed by the Egyptian Parlament that prevents FGM which states, “In June of 2008, the Egyptian Parliament agreed to criminalize FGM/C in the Penal Code, establishing a minimum custodial sentence of three months and a maximum of two years, or an alternative minimum penalty of 1,000 Egyptian pounds (LE) and a maximum of 5,000 LE. As of yet, no one has been convicted according to this law” (UNFPA 2018). Although this is a step in the right direction, nobody has been convicted of taking part in FGM procedures, which does not seem to match up with the statistics. In Egypt, “2 percent of Egyptian married women between the ages of 15 and 49 have undergone FGM, and 72 percent of them by doctors” (UNFPA 2018). If so many women have had this procedure done to them, then more people should be convicted of harming these women. FGM is so widespread through parts of Egypt, that it seems many Egyptians have an understanding that FGM is more beneficial than harmful, and that it is acceptable to do it for religious purposes.

The Bohra community in Pakistan continues to practice FGM solely because of religious reasons. There have been activists trying to speak out and protest against FGM in this area, but they are just shot down. In a campaign website to stop FGM it states, “Yet, on November 11, 2011, a petition broke the silence concerning FGM within the Dwoodi Bohra community in India” (Wettig 1992). Unfortunately, the woman who started this protest, Tasleem, who did not give any information about herself, passed away before much could be done. She argued that FGM is unfair, painful, reinforce stereotypes, and does not give equal rights to women. There was backlash to her activism since FGM is considered custom in their community. It seems like older women and men support FGM much more than upcoming generations.

Kenya has made FGM illegal with laws such as the Children's Act 2001 and the Prohibition of FGM 2011. Breaking this law can result in a fine of 200,000 shillings, the equivalence to $2000 USD, and a 3 years imprisonment. Since these laws were put in place, the percent of women being subjected to FGM dropped from 28 percent in 2011 to 21 percent in 2014. Although FGM is unpopular in Kenya with 92.5 percent of women and 88.8 percent of men agreeing that the practice should be stopped, there is now a new trend in cross border FGM. Cross-border FGM is where girls are taken outside of Kenya, like Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Somalia. Organizations like Hope Beyond Foundation and Equality Now are trying to get Kenya’s national and sub-national government to raise awareness, to make education campaigns in hopes to change the cultural perspective on FGM, and to provide shelters and safe houses to protect girls at risk.

In Mali, FGM is most likely to take place before the age of 5 with a percentage of 91.4 of women aged 15-49 stated that they have experienced FGM. Close to 90% of these women underwent FGM by traditional cutters. According to 28TooMany, “FGM is practiced across all major religions: 92.8% of Muslim women aged 15-49 have been cut, as have 77.2% of Animiste women and 65.2% of Christian women. Of women who do not adhere to any major faith, 91.4% have undergone FGM.” Regardless of the high infant and maternal mortality rate in Mali, 79% of men and 71% of women believe that FGM should continue.
Despite many attempts to ban FGM, there are no national laws in Mali that punish or put an end to FGM, Despite receiving many objections, in July 2017 a draft law was put forward to address FGM and other gender-based violence. It still has not been passed.

There was a survey done on women of all ages that attended gynecologists in Saudi Arabia regarding FGM. The study stated, “In a convenience sample of 963 women aged 18 to 75 years, 175 (18.2%) had undergone FGM/C. Compared with women without FGM/C, women with FGM/C were older, married, non-Saudi and had a lower monthly income” (Rouzi 2019). The results showed that FGM was more prevalent in older women that were married. It also proved that people that migrated to Saudi Arabia from other locations were more likely to have FGM than women who were from Saudi Arabia. This shows that as time passing FGM is not as common as it once was, although many women are still suffering from FGM in Saudi Arabia.

There was a report done in 2019 that explained where FGM stands currently. There still are many cases of FGM worldwide, despite all the efforts in trying to end it. Some positive news is that “In the last two decades, for instance, the rate of FGM has dramatically declined in East Africa from 71 percent of girls under 14 in 1995 to 8 percent in 2016, according to a study published in the journal BMJ Global Health. The study also found that the rate of FGM decreased significantly in that age group in West Africa from 73.6 percent in 1996 to 25.4 percent in 2017, and in North Africa from 57.7 percent in 1990 to 14.1 percent in 2013” (Cole 2019). Although there has been so much progress, there are many people who still advocate for FGM because it is how they were raised, and believe in the religious purposes of FGM. These people disregard the harm that FGM is doing on women. Not many people are aware of this transnational issue, and if more people knew about it then there potentially would be better results than what they are having. The overall goal is to end FGM by the year 2030 according to the UNFPA.