Op-Ed: Rise Against FGM
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or female circumcision is the surgical removal of part of or the entire external female genitalia. There are four types of FGM: type I (Clitoridectomy), type II (Excision), type III (Infibulation), and type IV (Total Infibulation). Over 200 million women and girls living today have experienced some form of FGM, with an estimated three million more at risk of getting genitally mutilated. According to the WHO, a survey was conducted asking females from ages 15-49 if they were victims of FGM. The results indicate that around 90% of mutilation cases include either type I, II, or IV mutilation, and about 10% are Type III (Infibulation), which is mostly practiced in the northeastern region of Africa: Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, etc.
I grew up in Omdurman, Sudan, a country where the prevalence of FGM is 88% and is considered the norm. Luckily, my older sister and I survived this horror. But sadly, my two eldest sisters didn’t, falling victim to Type I FGM. Additionally, I was washed with horror when I recently learned that my cousins and my mother are victims of type IV mutilation.
The health risks of FGM are both physical and psychological. Short term health effects consist of severe pain, excessive bleeding, shock, tissue swelling, infection, and urinary issues. Long term health risks include painful urination, menstrual problems, chronic genital infection, keloids, obstetric complications, prenatal risks, or even death. FGM not only causes health risks but also alters a female’s sexual health, lowering sexual desire, reducing pleasurable sensation, and causing difficulties with penetration. The justification for Female Genital Mutilation is that it will protect the circumcised woman’s marriageability, purity, sexual propriety, and morality. In reality, though, “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,” as stated by Jewel Llamas, MD resident physician.
Female Genital Mutilation is commonly practiced throughout 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia on girls ranging from infancy to age 15. However, research conducted in 2018 indicates that the prevalence of FGM has also increased in the United States. In 2017, two Michigan doctors were charged with performing the outlawed FGM procedure on two 7-year-old girls. In the recorded two decades that FGM has been practiced in parts of the United States, there has only been one prosecution. As of January 2019, only 28 states had passed legislation that criminalized FGM. In September 1996, Congress passed a provision illegalizing the practice of FGM in the U.S. as part of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996. Punishment for the practice of FGM in the States depends on the victim's age, who performed it, whether or not the procedure was for cultural reasons, and if it was done outside the States; sentences can go up to 30 years in prison and fines can exceed $250,000.
FGM is a topic known to many foreigners and a minority of Americans. It’s time that everyone realizes the immorality of this practice so we can unite to eradicate it once and for all. Aisha Yusuf, Hanna Stern, and Mariya Taher are community advocates who created a petition on Change.org to illegalize FGM in Massachusetts, which ranks twelfth in the nation for the number of women and girls at risk of FGM. The petition currently has 282,750 signees (as of the time of this article's publication), but the goal is 300,000. Go to this link to help reach the goal!
Help spread the word about Female Genital Mutilation and help save potentially millions of young girls from lifelong pain and trauma. The fight against FGM starts now. Visit this website to learn more.
