UN Women Somalia works with its partners to eliminate this practice through awareness raising, community discussions and engaging religious leaders to change social norms cultivating this harmful practice.
Common themes regarding the barriers to stop FGM/C were perception about health risks of FGM/C, cultural value given to FGM/C, influences from peers, family and the society, FGM/C as a prerequisite for marriage, and weak efforts to stop FGMC practice.
The offences
It is a criminal offence: To excise, infibulate or otherwise mutilate the whole or any part of a girl or woman's labia majora, labia minora or clitoris (section 1 of the 2003 Act) For a person to aid, abet, counsel or procure a girl or woman to carry out FGM on her own genitalia (section 2)
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting is a serious crime in Australia. Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting is illegal in Australia. This includes sending a person overseas to have a procedure done, or facilitating, supporting or encouraging someone to have this done.
The Tackling FGM Initiative (TFGMI) was established in 2010 to strengthen community-based prevention work to protect the rights of children, with a particular aim of reducing the risk of girls and young women of undergoing FGM.
Raise awareness
Days like today (International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM/C) are a great way to raise awareness about the issue. You can do this by bringing it up with your friends or family and starting a conversation or, you can share information on social media using the hashtag #EndFGM/C.
This can include controlling her sexuality to promote premarital virginity and marital fidelity. Some people believe that the practice has religious support, although no religious scripts prescribe the practice. Religious leaders take varying positions with regard to FGM, with some contributing to its abandonment.
As FGM is rooted in gender inequality and power imbalances, eradicating the practice requires changing the cultural and social norms that increase the risk of harm to women and engaging robustly with men in societies with high prevalence of the harmful practice.
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.
Of the 92 countries where female genital mutilation is practiced, 51 countries have specifically prohibited FGM under their national laws, either through a specific anti-female genital mutilation law or by prohibiting female genital mutilation under a criminal provision in other domestic laws such as the criminal or ...
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 negatively affects the well-being of girls and women. Its health implications include severe bleeding, infections, infertility, risk of complications during childbirth, and risks of new-born deaths.
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.
framework of the ancient Egyptian empires, FGM was implemented as a means of perpetuating inequality between the classes, with families cutting young girls and women, signifying their commitment to the wealthy, polygamous men of their society.
There is no exact established region where FGM's origin is dated back to, however, scholars have proposed Ancient Egypt and Sudan. Others claim it originated from Ancient Rome, stating that FGM was implemented on the female slaves to prevent pregnancy and sexual relations.
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).
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.
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.
If an adult discloses to you that a child has had FGM, this is a report of child abuse. You should follow local safeguarding processes, which would normally mean referring to the police and/or social services. This is because a crime has been committed and a child has suffered physical (and potentially other) abuse.
The campaign, also known as Saleema initiative, was launched to save more than 50 million girls in Africa under the age of 15 who are at risk of FGM by 2030 if urgent action is not taken.
Modelled estimates of FGM/C in Australia
Based on the model described, it is estimated that 53,000 girls and women born elsewhere but living in Australia in 2017 had undergone FGM/C during their lifetime—a rate of 4.3 per 1,000 girls and women in Australia, or 0.4% of Australia's overall female population.
A mother whose daughter underwent female genital mutilation at the age of 3 has become the first person in the UK to be convicted of the practice. The 37 year old woman from Uganda was found guilty after a trial at the Old Bailey in London.