Ending Female Genital Cutting

Efua Dorkenoo, a key leader in the movement to end FGC1. Efua Dorkenoo,  a key leader in the international movement to end female genital cutting, has died in London at age 65. Ms. Dorkenoo served as acting director of women’s health at the World Health Organization in the late 1990s, writes the New York Times. She also wrote an influential book — ‘Cutting the Rose: Female Genital Mutilation’ (1996).

Writing an update on FGM (female genital mutilation) or FGC (female genital cutting), the NYT reports progress among younger women in ending the practice associated with tribal societies, not Islam exclusively.

The United Nations voted unanimously in 2013 to recognize female genital cutting as a human rights violation.

In Egypt, where more women have been cut than in any other nation, surveys showed that 81 percent of 15- to 19-year-olds had undergone the practice, compared with 96 percent of women in their late 40s.

AOC has explored news of FGC/FGM for years, tracking the Tostan organization’s successfull efforts in parts of Africa to end the practice with village elders leading the way.

Health Risks of FGM

2. Effects of FGM EndFGM.eu a project of Amnesty International

Immediate consequences of FGM include severe pain and bleeding, shock, difficulty in passing urine, infections, injury to nearby genital tissue and sometimes death. The procedure can result in death through severe bleeding leading to haemorrhagic shock, neurogenic shock as a result of pain and trauma, and overwhelming infection and septicaemia, according to Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Almost all women who have undergone FGM experience pain and bleeding as a consequence of the procedure. The event itself is traumatic as girls are held down during the procedure. Risk and complications increase with the type of FGM and are more severe and prevalent with infibulations.

“The pain inflicted by FGM does not stop with the initial procedure, but often continues as ongoing torture throughout a woman’s life”, says Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

Masai Warriors Against FGM

The young Masai tribal warriors battling FGM in Kenya  The Times UK

3. The famous Masai men are acclaimed for being feared and accomplished warriors.  Pictured here, Ole Lelein Kanunga, the leader of young Masai tribal warriors in Entasopia, “a lush oasis of trees and pasture in the otherwise desert flats of this part of southern Kenya”, says that in the month of December, circumcisions will end.You see, December is the month when girls are cut in Kenya, a rite of passage that often results in their not returning to the classroom and marrying instead, with babies on the way.