In case there was any doubt, a study published in the British medical journal Lancet confirms that female genital mutilation (FGM) is indeed bad for your health. FGM takes many forms, but typically invovles cutting away the vagina, clitoris, and sometimes the outer labia, and the vagina is sewn up almost completely. According to an African Parliamentary conference held in December 2005, FGM is done to over three million girls a year, usually without anesthesia. In the Sudan, it is estimated that one-third of all girls who undergo it will die. A horrific, barbaric practice if there ever was one.
"The first large medical study of female genital mutilation has found that the procedure has deadly consequences when the women give birth, raising by more than 50 percent the likelihood that the woman or her baby would die."
"Women's groups and human rights organizations have long campaigned against genital mutilation as a rights issue, but the study provides the first conclusive medical evidence of long-term physical harm, taking the debate further into the public health arena."
Do I laugh or do I cry? This is the first conclusive medical evidence of the incredible damage and harm that FGM does? I'm angry that there's lots of TALK but little ACTION to wipe out this abominable practice. Talk about violence against women.
The caption to this photo from a UN website says "A small girl from Sierra Leone carries her ceremonial knife. At her 5 years old she is learning how to become a circumciser to provide income for her family." And we can't just blame the evil male patriarchy here either, it's a practice largely performed by women.
"More than 100 million women have undergone genital mutilation, mostly in childhood and often without anesthesia or sterile technique. Pain, bleeding, and infection are immediate consequences. The study found that more extensive genital-mutilation procedures produced the highest rates of maternal and infant death."
Something is missing here. Many people have known for a long time that this despicable practice cripples young women and causes all sorts of medical problems. Studies have shown that it is tied to the spread of AIDS in Africa, where many women prefer anal sex to vaginal sex, because it's so painful to have vaginal sex. Dr. Nawal Nour in the Boston area tries to persuade African women not to have FGM done to their daughters, and she performs reconstructive surgery for women who had FGM. I hope that the publication of this Lancet study will have some effect, but how will a study published in a British journal change the minds of the men and women who cut away the sex organs of their girls?
God help us. Maybe foreign aid should be tied to reducing FGM. Want our money? Stop cutting your girls.
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