There is this one scene in Barbershop where someone says that they heard in Africa, they circumcise the women. This is a harsh reality in countries such as Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Tanzania to name a few. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is defined by the World Health Organisation as ”comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic reasons.”
FGM is practiced for a slew of reasons such as to ensure female fidelity as shown by this quotation:
There are different types of levels of FGM as stated here. There have been brilliant initiatives for example films have been made by Cameroonians to tackle the issue of FGM. WHO reports that “today, the number of girls and women who have been undergone female genital mutilation is estimated at between 100 and 140 million. It is estimated that each year, a further 2 million girls are at risk of undergoing FGM.”
FGM raises the question about the position of the African girl in society. The continent has undergone rapid modernisation in urban areas yet is still holding to old ideas such as this. It has become a battle between tradition and modernism, and judging by the WHO statistics, it is still continuing. These women and girls are being destroyed just so people can hold onto archaic views of what women should be. FGM enables African patriarchal structures to suppress women and make them think that they are defined in terms of their sexuality, which is a horrible thing in itself. Women cannot be defined in terms of their sexuality but each day, we are judging by the various labels such as ‘slut’ and ‘whore’. FGM is a violation of human rights and it demeans what it means to be a woman.
It makes me feel sick that this practice is still continuing in Tanzania, a country that prides itself on being one of the only stable African countries. My country cannot hold its’ head up high until this thing is eradicated not only from Tanzania but from most of the continent. Perhaps I am being naive. Perhaps I am not. What is certain is that FGM is a disease that needs to wiped out.
Links:
*Norwegian-Somalian FGM activist beaten unconscious
A…. a heart wrenching post. I know a woman who had FGM done to her against her will when she was a child. She described the experience as “terror” and she never really got over it.
There were a couple news article in Canada, a few years ago that certain families who were originally from Africa, particulary Muslim Africans who now resided here, were taking their daughters, who were also born here in Canada, back to Africa to have FGM performed on them. There was also a story that there were traditional/religious authorities from these communities who also came to Canada periodically, to perform FGM.
This is a practise that is horrible and a violation of a woman’s human rights. It is ceratinly used, as you state to: “suppress women and make them think that they are defined in terms of their sexuality….and it demeans what it means to be a woman”. We in the “west” need to be mindful. These psychological and emotional effects are not much unlike the calling of our women “bitches and “ho’s”.
I think all circumcision (is including male) is genital mutilation & needs to be stopped.
I understand that there are many cultural barriers but this is such an unnecessary procedure especially in “westernized countries”.
In regards to FMG, I don’t see it going anywhere anytime soon even with global attention. Ways of the old are hard to break.
Bygbaby
asa: they were taking their families back for fgm? that is terrible. i think there is a stupid obsession with tradition in africa that is almost too extreme in some parts. how can you claim that carving someone up is traditional? do you know if they managed to escape or did they have to stay there and were they married off?
bygbaby: you are probably right that it will not end. it is simply horrifying that it wont. i know my tribe in tanzania does not perform it but the fact that other tribes that we live side by side with do is frightening frankly. i think it is the equivalent of being branded and a woman’s identity being stolen from her.