As the world becomes global our eyes are opened to horrors. Around the globe, female circumcision is still practiced. What is female circumcision? Female circumcision is the practice of female genital mutilations. Female Genital Mutilations (FGM) known as female circumcision is the removal of parts of the female genitals serving no medical purpose.
Removal of the genitals ranges from simple cuttings of the clitoris to the complete removal of the inner and outer vagina lips along with the clitoris. When complete, the victims are stitched together leaving a small space for menstruation and urine to escape. This ancient ritual is done without anesthesia on prepubescent girls under 12 years old. Girls are known to be taken outside the United States for the purpose of having FGM performed for ancestral reasons.
Who Is Helping and How Many Girls are Victims of FGM
Who is helping and how many girls are victims of FGM; the first questions most people ask. Taina Bien Aime is the director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women she attempts to provide insight. Taina Bien Aime equates FGM with “removing a male’s testes…to removing both the testes and the penis.” But, these comparisons do not fully explain the horrors of female circumcision aka FGM.
Today, the statistics estimate that every day, around the globe, about six thousand girls are subjected to the torture that is female circumcision aka female genital mutilations. It is a ban through laws and done in unsanitary underground rituals. Young girls are often taken out of the United States to have the procedure performed. Between 1997 and 2000 the United States saw a 35 percent the growth of female genital mutilations. In 2000, it was estimated that some 228,000 females in the United States had undergone some form of female genital mutilations.
Types of Female Genital Mutilations (FGM)
Female Genital Mutilations (FGM) have three to four different types and none of them are medically safe. FGM causes severe bleeding, infections, painful intercourse, infertility, and FGM can be deadly. Unlike male circumcision, FGM will destroy nerves creating a loss of sensitivity preventing sexual pleasure. Global organizations of medical professionals agree there is no health benefit and often surgery is the only hope for the potential repair.
To Understand FGM Know Your Anatomy
The female genitals are made of several parts. The clitoris, urethra, labia majora, labia minora, and the vagina. The urethra releases urine. The vagina is the canal to the womb. The labia majora (outer lips) are labia minora (inner lips) are commonly referred to as the lips. The clitoris includes a clitoral hood. The clitoris, lips, urethra, and vagina all serve important functions.
Type One is called a Clitoridectomy
A clitoridectomy is the least damaging type of FGM. A clitoridectomy is a cutting of the clitoris to remove any pleasurable sensations. Clitoridectomy removes the clitoral hood and clitoris. The clitoris is responsible for much of the female pleasure sensations during sexual intercourse. Removing the clitoris by cutting the skin fold around the clitoris called the prepuce is the first type of FGM called clitoridectomy. The precision required to perform such a procedure is typically not achieved due to the lack of anesthetic. However, type one clitoridectomy is the least damaging FGM.
Type Two is called an Excision
Type two is called excision and it involved removing the clitoris, the labia minora (inner lips), and sometimes the labia majora (outer lips). By removing these aspects of the female genitalia the only parts left are the vagina and urethra.
Type Three is called Infibulation
Type three is called infibulation. Infibulation is the complete removal of all aspects of female genitals then repositioning tissue and stitching shut all but a small opening where urine and menstruation can drain. Infibulation is a complex procedure that involves sealing the two sides of the vulva after the removal of the clitoris, labia, and all external parts of the female genitals.
The Fourth Type of FGM is a Broad Catagory
There is a fourth type of FGM that includes lessor damage. The scraping, pricking, or piercing of any part of female genitals falls into this fourth unnamed category. This fourth category is said to predate all the others due to the fact that princess pharaoh mummified remains show signs of this type of FGM as part of an ancient religious practice.
Understanding Female Circumcision is Female Genital Mutilations
The lack of knowledge about the practices of female circumcision known as female genital mutilations (FGM) is part of the reason the practice has been able to survive. In hopes of keeping it from expanding professionals work around the globe to educate people about the dangers of FGM. Shelby Quast, a policy advisor for Equality Now said, “We look at the various diaspora communities and as they grow, the number of girls at risk grows as well.”
The concern is that FGM is growing and not subsiding. Doctors are reporting an increase in the cases of FGM. Young girls are taken from the United States to nations in Africa and the Middle East to have FGM performed as a religious practice outside of United States legal jurisdictions. What troubles professionals in the increase in the number of children in the United States presenting with FGM as adults.
FGM Victims And Their Futures
When women reach adulthood and seek out doctors to examine the FGM they’ve endured it is a painful process. Women must make difficult decisions about medical procedures. The attempts to restore FGM victims are not always successful and may require multiple surgeries for reconstruction. Doctors who surgically reconstruct FGM victims can only help undo some of the damage.
The psychological damage done to victims of FGM takes a lifetime to heal. Campaigns and organizations full of FGM survivors seek to warn the legislative systems within the United States. A thirty-five percent increase in FGM victims seen between 1997 and 2000 raises concerns of doctors and law enforcement. It is estimated that around the globe there are over 6,000 girls victimized by FGM each day. For more information about sexual health, topics come back to http://bunnycam.com and stay informed on the latest topics about sexual health.