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 most often carried out on young girls aged between infancy and 15 years old. It is often referred to as 'cutting', 'female circumcision', 'initiation', 'Sunna' and 'infibulation'.
Introduction. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. It's also known as female circumcision or cutting.
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.
Type IV is the mildest form and includes any form of other harm done to the genitalia by pricking, piercing, cutting, scraping, or burning. World Health Organization classification of female genital cutting. Type I, also known as clitoridectomy or sunna, involves removing part or all of the clitoris and/or the prepuce.
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.
Psychosexual reasons: FGM is carried out as a way to control women's sexuality, which is sometimes said to be insatiable if parts of the genitalia, especially the clitoris, are not removed. It is thought to ensure virginity before marriage and fidelity afterward, and to increase male sexual pleasure.
FGM is often considered a necessary part of raising a girl, and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage. This can include controlling her sexuality to promote premarital virginity and marital fidelity.
The infibulated woman cannot give birth unassisted. The scar tissue covering the vaginal introitus does not allow the passage of the baby unless it is cut (de-fibulation). Invariably, this is followed by vaginal and perineal tears which could reach third degree tears involving the anal canal.
FGM is often referred to as female circumcision. This term implies a comparable practice to male circumcision. However, the degree of excision and trauma involved in FGM is generally much more extensive, including the actual removal of genital organs.
Discharge, itching, bacterial vaginosis and other infections. Menstrual problems. Obstruction of the vaginal opening may lead to painful menstruation (dysmenorrhea), irregular menses and difficulty in passing menstrual blood, particularly among women with Type III FGM. Excessive scar tissue (keloids).
The practice is almost universal in Somalia, Guinea and Djibouti, with levels above 90 per cent, while it affects no more than 1 per cent of girls and women in Cameroon and Uganda. However, FGM is a human rights issue that affects girls and women worldwide.
It is mostly practiced in parts of Cameroon, where boys and men may think that girls whose breasts have begun to grow are ready for sex. Evidence suggests that it has spread to the Cameroonian diaspora, for example to Britain, where the law defines it as child abuse.
FGM is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15.
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.
Signs FGM might have taken place
Having difficulty walking, standing or sitting. Spending longer in the bathroom or toilet. Appearing quiet, anxious or depressed. Acting differently after an absence from school or college.
The procedure consists of narrowing the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning the labia minora and/or labia majora, with or without removal of the external part of clitoris.
Medicalized defibulation is a surgical procedure constituting a partial undoing of infibulation—the most extreme form of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) [1].
The key indicators that a girl or young woman is potentially at risk of FGM are: One or both parents come from an ethnic group that traditionally practices FGM. Her mother has had FGM.
Girls and women who undergo FGM often experience long-term health consequences including scarring, cysts, abcesses and other tissue damage, infertility, and increased susceptibility to infections. They may experience difficulty and pain when they menstruate, urinate or have sexual intercourse.
The authors found that the “vast majority of studies” concluded that women prefer circumcised penises. Even in countries where circumcision was not the norm, a majority of women found circumcised men more attractive.
FGM has no health benefits and can lead to serious, long-term complications and even death. Immediate health risks include haemorrhage, shock, infection, HIV transmission, urine retention and severe pain.
“Contrary to popular belief, circumcision has no long-term negative effects on the sexual drive and does not lead to any sexual dysfunctions.