FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15.
Breaching an Order can lead to a prison sentence of up to five years.
Certain ethnic groups in Asian countries practice FGM, including in communities in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In the Middle East, the practice occurs in Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, as well as in Iraq, Iran, Jordan and the State of Palestine.
With the passage of the federal law ban, the Female Genital Mutilation Act, in 1996, performing FGM on anyone under age 18 became a felony in the United States.
FGM is usually carried out on young girls between infancy and the age of 15, most commonly before puberty starts.
On the other hand, some circumcised women report having satisfying sexual relations including sexual desire, pleasure and orgasm. Female genital mutilation does not eliminate sexual pleasure totally for every woman who undergoes the procedure, but it does reduce the likely of orgasm.
Although estimates of the prevalence of FGM vary, sources have consistently found the practice to be undergone by the majority of women in the Horn of Africa, in the West African countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Mauritania, Mali and Burkina Faso, as well as in Sudan and Egypt.
FGM can cause life-threatening childbirth complications.
Scar tissue may not stretch enough to accommodate a newborn, making delivery even more painful than is usual, and making it more likely that the woman will need a Caesarean section or other emergency interventions.
The most frequently cited reasons for carrying out FGM are social acceptance, religion, misconceptions about hygiene, a means of preserving a girl or woman's virginity, making the woman "marriageable" and enhancing male sexual pleasure.
A girl who has had FGM may have difficulty walking, standing or sitting and could spend longer in the bathroom or toilet. They could also appear withdrawn, anxious or depressed and exhibit unusual behaviour after an absence from school or college.
Consultant gynaecologist Geetha Subramanian is one of only a handful of medical professionals in the UK to carry out FGM reversals, known as deinfibulation.
Almost all women who have undergone FGM experience pain and bleeding as a consequence of the procedure. The event itself is traumatic as girls are held down during the procedure. Risk and complications increase with the type of FGM and are more severe and prevalent with infibulations.
Injury to the genitals can be very painful. It may cause a lot of bleeding. Such injury can affect the reproductive organs and the bladder and urethra. Damage may be temporary or permanent.
Type 3 FGM/C may cause some girls and women to have painful menstrual periods. Some women are left with only a small opening for urinating and menstrual bleeding. They may not be able to pass all of their menstrual blood. This can cause pain and periods that are longer than normal.
Type III is the most severe type of FGM, known as infibulation, which involves the narrowing of the vaginal orifice with the creation of a seal that is formed by cutting and then stitching the labia minora and/or the labia majora with or without excision of the clitoris.
Trauma to the urethra and surrounding vulval tissues during the FGM procedure can lead to immediate damage to the lower urinary tract. In addition, sealing of the vaginal introitus – which occurs with Type 3 FGM – obstructs urinary flow and may lead to short and long term urinary symptoms.
Girls are potentially at risk when / if, for example: they are born to a woman who has undergone FGM. they have an older sibling or cousin who has undergone FGM. one or both of their parents and/or elder family members consider FGM integral to their cultural or religious identity.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, an estimated 53,000 women and girls born overseas and now living in Australia have undergone female genital mutilation in their lifetime. This equates to a rate of 4.3 per 1000 women and girls in Australia, or 0.4% of Australia's overall female population.
More than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is practiced. FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15. FGM is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
FGM is practised by the Dawoodi Bohra, a sect of Shia Islam with one million members in India. Known as khatna, khafz, and khafd, the procedure is performed on six- or seven-year-old girls and involves the total or partial removal of the clitoral hood.
A clitoridectomy is often done to remove malignancy or necrosis of the clitoris. This is sometimes done along with a radical complete vulvectomy. Surgery may also become necessary due to therapeutic radiation treatments to the pelvic area. Removal of the clitoris may be due to malignancy or trauma.
That said, “studies show that there is no significant change in sensation in adult men who undergo circumcision,” says Dr. Alex Shteynshlyuger, director of urology at New York Urology Specialists.
Men under 35 who were circumcised also reported that circumcision not only improved their ability to have sex, but also increased their libido, increasing their desire to have sex.