Rebecca Harrelson
10/4/10
6:37
An estimated 70 million girls and women living today have been subjected to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Africa and Yemen. There are also rising numbers in Europe, Australia, Canada and the United States; primarily among immigrants from Africa and Southwest Asia. FGM has been called a social custom, not a religious practice. Female Genital Mutilation has been practiced for at least 1,400 years (some research shows 2,000 years). FGM is practiced for many reasons some being sexual, to control to reduces female sexuality, sociological, for example as an initiation for girls into womanhood, social integration and the maintenance of social cohesion.
FGM is a fundamental violation of the rights, it is discriminating and using unnecessary force, injury, abuse, torture and down right cruel. FGM does irreparable harm, it can result in death through severe bleeding leading to hemorrhagic shock, Neutrogena shock as a result of pain and trauma, also overwhelming infection is routine. Many girls enter a state of shock induced by the sever pain, psychological trauma and exhaustion from screaming.
The fact that this procedure is still going on, and there haven’t been bans and more laws placed against it is ridiculous. When I first heard the term Female Genital Mutilation I had no idea what it was about, after researching it and seeing pictures, it is horrid. These women are screaming at the top of their lungs because of the pain. The fact that people believe this will help a woman wait until marriage, or make her look more appealing to a man is seriously out of date. Instead of cutting, can’t we teach them abstinence? If waiting until marriage is this important for these cultures, there are more ways to have that goal achieved.
http://www.fgmnetwork.org/index.php
4 comments:
Yes it is a terrible practice but after almost 2,000 years of this tortuous mutilation, it will take a long, long time to change these peoples minds. Women are treated like possessions, so men think they can do what they want with their daughters and wives. And as hard as it is to accept, mothers do not want their daughters to be "different" from themselves or other girls. Being different by not being mutilated is a stigma on the family. More education and exposure to the outside world is the only way to change this practice, but that will be hard to achieve, because the fathers, husbands, brothers do not want smart educated women. They want slaves who do not derive any pleasure from their sexuality. There is no quick or easy answer.
This makes me cringe. It definitely seems like a human rights violation to me.
I remember watching a documentary about how militias go into villages raping and doing this to women for fun and I found it breath taking. I am usually not shocked by too many things but still today I can't fathom torture like this. How do people rap their minds around such places to put harm upon. How can this solve anything. I remember reading about the Nacirema people and how women put their heads in the oven or allow for doctors to mutilate their bodies because they are believers in beauty first. Sometimes I just wonder how can you come to the conclusion to mutilate a reproductive organ for a benefit.
It's crazy. FGM accomplishes absolutely nothing, except almost, if not actually, killing the woman. Not only is it a human rights violation, it's also very dangerous.
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