Aisha Crawford
November 20th, 2009
11:40AM
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2009-11-18-voa41-70423542.html
At least 100 million African women and girls have undergone Female Genital Mutilation. It is the the removal of all or part of the female genitalia. Sometimes the remaining flesh is stitched together leaving only a tiny opening for urination and menstruation. The effects make intercourse and childbirth painful and hazardous. Most of the time the girls under go the Mutilation before the age of 8. Some countries outlawed FGM for girls under the age of 18 but it is mostly still a routine. Many girls run away from home so that they will not have to endure the painfully traumatic experience.
Some activists feel that the education of these girls is a way to prevent it, allowing them to be educated enough to know that it is not right and to stand up for themselves. They teach the girls in a religious way that their body is just the way God created it and if they are circumcised then it is the destruction of their body which is God's creation. They teach them that it is wrong and try to give them skills so that they can leave and be able to make money on their own
The article goes on to talk about particular women who underwent FGM and decided to make a movie about it. The purpose of the movie is for people to realize that this is a real issue and it needs real attention because many are suffering from it.
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I found this article extra interesting because this is something that we just talked about in class this week. We talked about if it is right or wrong considering different standards. I definately think that this is not right, especially for girls so young. Its like they will endure a life of pain as punishment for being a woman. why cant woman be proud of themselves and not ashamed. it is like a subconcious part of society that women are lower and should suffer forever for being born woman, inwhich they had no control over. the question that I had was why do they do this? the article did not go in great detail about that aspect of it. It is just saddenning once again that women have to go through so much just to be a part of this world.
5 comments:
Wow, I heard of the female mutilation and it makes me cringe. Those woman must be undergoing some extreme and severe pain that is unimaginable to me. I understand that different cultures have different practices but it is clear that the woman do not want to do this. This has to change.
It is good to hear that there are more people reaching out to these girls and spreading awareness of FGC and that it is not right. Childbirth is painful enough, I couldn't imagine how much it hurts for these kind of women who underwent the circumcisions. It is sad that a girl is forced to run away from her family and home just to avoid something so painful that she does not want to be a part of.
I remeber watching a movie in class that had this practice in it. Its pretty sick and the movie was pretty depressing. I think education like you said would be waaaaaayyyyy better for these women that that horrible practice.
I also cant stomach the fact of female mutilation, it makes me so sad that anyone has to endure pain like this. I agree that education is necessary to prevent these extremes.
This is outrageous. I cannot imagine the extreme and horrible pain that these women and girls are going through. I believe that this has got to be stopped. It is clear that these women and girls do not want this due to them running away.
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