Ad infinitum, the first message a girl gathers about her body is that it is flawed – too fat or too thin, too dark or too freckled. But for some girls, the message is that, to be accepted by the wider community, their bodies must be cut, reshaped and altered through a practice popularly known as female genital mutilation (FGM). FGM is a practice involving removal of female genitalia by a sharp iron shank for nontherapeutic reasons. FGM is an egregious traditional practice which has many ill effects on the health of a female, which has been practiced on approximately 200 million girls and women in 30 countries including India hitherto. FGM leads to many complications in a female body with age, wherein it holds no single benefit to them, and even in worst case scenario it could lead to death of an individual. FGM is a serious human rights violation which should be eradicated, by enlightening people about the detrimental effects of FGM.
Introduction
A lot of ink has been dribbled in the effort to comprehend what Female Genital Mutilation is. In the words of WHO, “Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for nonmedical reasons”. FGM is also known as female cutting or circumcision, and by many other terms, such as sunna, gudniin, halalays, tahur, and khitan, among others.
Every year, February 6 is observed as International day of zero tolerance for female gentil mutilation. The origin of this practice could not be traced but FGM is highly concentrated in a swathe of countries from the Atlantic coast to the Horn of Africa, in parts of the Middle East such as Iraq and Yemen and in Asian Countries like Indonesia.
This practice is persevered by elderly people of the community, who take their infants or young daughters to “traditional circumcisers”, who play pivotal role in carrying this orthodox practice in the name of religion. The job of circumcisers is to cut female genitalia, with or without anesthesia, partially or totally depending upon their usual practice.
The excruciating pain sustained because of this incessant practice does not end with the healing of wound but instead it stays with the person for a lifetime as it leads to many other problems like sexual problems, birth problem with many other which only the person who had endured that pain could understand.
“The pain perpetrated by FGM does not stop with the preliminary procedure, but often endures as ongoing torture throughout a woman’s life.”
Why it is practised?
In many of the countries where FGM is executed, it is an entrenched social and cultural custom rooted deeply in gender inequality where violence against females is socially sustainable.
The reasons behind the practice differs. In some situations, it is seen as a sacrament of passage into womanhood, while others see it as a system to suppress a woman’s sexuality. Many communities practice genital mutilation in the faith that it will ensure a girl’s happy marriage which ultimately ensures family honor. Some associate it with religious beliefs, although no religious scriptures entail it.
FGM is allied with cultural ethics of femininity and modesty, which include the belief that girls are pure and beautiful after elimination of body parts that are considered tainted and unfeminine.
How prevalent is female genital mutilation?
The exact number of females who have undergone FGM universally, still remains obscure, at least 200 million girls and women aged around 15–49 years from almost 31 countries have been exposed to the practice. Young girls in many countries today are at much inferior risk of being subjected to the practice of mutilation than their mothers and grandmothers were in the past times. There has been momentous progress made in eradicating the practice in the past thirty years.
However, progress is not universal or fast enough. In some countries, the practice remains as habitual today as it was three decades ago. A study conducted in 2018 on female genital mutilation in India said that the practice was up to 75 per cent across the Bohra Muslim community. The said study was conducted by three independent researchers. Progression to end FGM needs to be at least ten times quicker if the practice is to be banished by 2030.
Types of female genital mutilation
The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the practice into four different categories, which are: Type 1 which is also known as Clitoridectomy. That’s the total or partial removal of the sensitive clitoris and its adjoining skin.
Type 2 which is known as Excision. The partial or total removal of the clitoris plus the subtraction of the labia minora, or inner skin folds surrounding the vagina.
Type 3 commonly known as Infibulation. The trimming and relocation of the labia minora and the labia majora – the outer skin folds that encircling the vagina. This often includes stitching to leave only a minor gap. This practice is not only tremendously painful and saddening, it’s also an ongoing infection risk: the stitching over of the vagina and the urethra leaves women with a very minor opening through which to permit menstrual fluid and urine to come out. In fact, sometimes the opening can be so minor that it needs to be cut open to allow sexual intercourse or birth – often causing impediments which harm both mother and baby.
Type 4: This covers all other detrimental procedures like pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and closing the clitoris or genital area.
CONSEQUENCE OF FGM
The repercussions of FGM have both psychological and physiological effects which includes both long term and short term complications. The extent of the short-term complications is totally dependent up on the method in which the procedure is performed. If the process was done using unsterile equipment with no antibiotics and no antiseptics, it increases the risk of complications for the victim. Primary infections comprise urinary tract infections, staphylococcus infections, extreme and uncontrollable pain, and hemorrhaging. Infections such as Chlamydia trachomatis, Clostridium tetani, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), herpes simplex virus (HSV) 2 are considerably more common among women who experienced Type 3 mutilation if compared with other categories. As the short-term complications apparent, mortality risk increases due to the limited health care accessible to low-income economies. While statistics on the mortality of girls who suffered FGM are not known and hard to procure, it is estimated that 1 in every 500 circumcisions would lead to death. It was disproved in Sudan that this procedure fabricates protective factors agin sexually transmitted infections (STIs) which is not in the case of male circumcision. After the part heals, victim suffers the long-term consequences of the exploitation through both physiological and psychological complications and extensive complications during childbirth.
Amongst other, one of the most common complications is the growth of keloid scar tissue over the part that has been cut. This scar can be a fount of disgrace and anxiety to the women who had FGM. The first sexual intercourse can only take place after gradual and painful enlargement of the opening left after mutilation. For infibulated women (i.e., genitals have been closed tighly) giving birth to a child presents the greatest challenge, as maternal mortality rates are particularly higher because of problems that arise during labor. During delivery, infibulated women are cut in the perineum part so that the baby could be delivered safely.
FGM comes in many forms which leave different long lasting impact on people who has to go through the procedure. One of the victim of such practice recollect the atrocious time when she went through this procedure at the age of 11 what she couldn’t recognize was that it would leave her with irregular periods, bladder complications, and recurring infections. The option left to her was only to give birth via Caesarean section. Now, she is a part of antimutilation campaign.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, psychoses, and neuroses are common delayed complications that are connected with FGM. In developing countries, these type of conditions regularly go unattended and if left untreated, can lead to mental concerns later in life.
INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES
FGM is reprobated by many international treaties and conventions, as well as by national legislation in many countries. There are many initiatives which were adopted to curb the practice and to apprise girls and children about their rights against such exploitation vis-a-vis their bodies.
The convention on the rights of the child (CRC) contains number of articles which addresses the sexual exploitation against children and measures to protect children from such activities. Article 19 of CRC states that government should ensure that children are appropriately cared for and safeguarded from different forms of violence, including sexual abuse.
In the year 1997, World Health Organization (WHO) has delivered a joint declaration against the exercise of FGM together with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Since 1997, substantial endeavor have been made to restrain the practice of FGM, through research work within societies, and modifications in public policy.
Progress at international, national and sub-national levels includes: Great involvement of international groups to stop FGM; International examining bodies and resolutions that stops the practice; Amendments in the legal frameworks and increasing political backing to end FGM (this includes a stringent laws against the practice of FGM in twenty six countries in Africa and the Middle East, in addition to that thirty three other countries with populations migrated from FGM practicing countries); The frequency of FGM has decreased in number of countries and an increasing number of people in communities where it is practiced support ending its practice.
It is indicated through various research work that if practicing communities themselves decide to abandon FGM, the practice can be eliminated very rapidly. In 2007, the Joint Programme are initiated by UNFPA and UNICEF to accelerate the abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation.
In 2008, an affirmation was put forth byWHO with nine other United Nations partners, on the eradication of FGM to succor improved advocacy for its abandonment, called “Eliminating female genital mutilation: an interagency statement”. This statement provided evidence assembled over the preceding decade about the practice of FGM.
In 2010, WHO in collaboration with other key United Nations (UN) agencies and international organizations issued a statement “Global strategy to stop health care providers from performing female genital mutilation”. Many countries are supported by WHO to implement this strategy. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the abolition of female genital mutilation in December 2012.
In the year 2016, the first of its kind guidelines has been laid down by WHO in collaboration with the UNFPA-UNICEF joint programme on FGM. The guidelines were ensued after the systematic evaluation of the best accessible evidence on health complications for women living with FGM. In 2018, a scientific handbook on FGM released to ameliorate knowledge, approaches, and skills of health care workers in averting and handling the complications of FGM was launched by WHO.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document drafted in 1948 by various representative from different regions of the world, which talks about the rights and freedoms of human beings irrespective of their race, caste, religion, sex, etc. and contains 30 Articles.
The Article 25 o f UDHR states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being,” and this article has been utilized to contest that the practice of FGM violates the right to health and bodily honor.
FGM mostly done on the minors violates the Convention on Rights of Child. Moreover, it is traditional practice Prejudicial to women’s right which violates the UN convention on the abolition of all forms of wrong against women. It is considered as a crime under the illegal immigration reform and Immigrant responsibility act of 1996 in the United State of America.
The sustainable development are the collections of seventeen goals, which were adopted by the United Nation organization in the year 2015 as universal take to eradicate poverty, protect the environment, increase the standard of living and ensure peace and prosperity by 2030.
In particular, goal 5 elucidate upon eradicating the gender discrimination and building an equal environment for everyone irrespective of their gender, race, caste, etc. which is crucial for a sustainable future. Goal 5.3 recapitulates the elimination of harmful practices against female such as female genital mutilation.
INDIAN RESPONSE
In India, the practice of female genital mutilation executed in Dawoodi Bohra Community prominently, it is a ritual performed on every girl or woman within the community. The dispute first arouse in India due to the two international legal cases against involvement of Bohras community in Australia and the US with the practice.
In 2017, the PIL has been filed by the Delhi based lawyer, who sought the declaration that the said practice violates the basic human rights, and also, amounts to violation of women’s right to life and dignity. On the other hand, the Dawoodi Bohra Community contested that FGM is part of their religion and performance of such practice is protected under the article 25 and 26 of the Indian constitution.
Whereas, the performance of FGM on children would amount to an offence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act. Since it is practiced on minors, it evidently amounts to serious violation of the child rights as even minors have a right of security of person, right to privacy, bodily probity and the liberty from cruel, inhumane or mortifying treatment. This is practiced without any therapeutic reason and does not have any mention in the Quran.
COMPREHENDING THE FOUNT OF PRACTICE
FGM has been practiced in 30 countries, mainly in Africa with other parts of Middle East and Asia. Further, this practice has been carried to other countries like Europe and America by the migrants who shifted their base to such places. When we look for approaches to address violence we primarily target the particular issue, failing to identify its deep economic and social roots. However, evidence shows that approaches need to be more social oriented and extensive at the time of investing in more peaceful communities. It is further evident that FGM is more dominant among daughters whose fathers are not in favor of the practice or has been undecided but mothers want to carry on with the practice, compared to daughters having fathers as the sole parent supportive of its continuation. Comprehending the extent to which parental beliefs influence choices and which girls are likely to be circumcised is essential for developing suitable interventions designed for promoting the abandonment of the practice.
WAYS TO END FEMALE GENTIAL MUTILATION
Up till now the practice has wreaked a lot of havoc among the girls on whom such egregious act has been practiced. We need to exceedingly work on the measures to curb the practice. With many other the following things are to be done to eradicate the practice rapidly.
• Educating the girl child about their bodily rights, girls has a right to decide what should be done with their body. No female who is well educated about her rights want the practice to continue.
• The local efforts should be orchestrated at places where such practice has been performed to conduct the workshops and activities to beware people about the risks and realities of FGM. The ill-effects of the FGM should be very well communicated to both younger and older generation.
• It should be spread that religion does not demand the circumcision of female or for that matter of any human being. People assume that Islam advocates circumcision of a girl to ensure her purity, which is not true in any sense. The belief which is wrongly followed by people in the name of religion should be stopped and the immediate steps to be taken against this deeply entrenched cultural practice.
• In order to take measures to prevent FGM from causing any further damage the strong educational strategies should be crafted and there is a need to collaborate with various bodies like governmental organizations, private bodies and non- governmental sector to work together efficiently in eradicating this non-human practice.
• The performance of this practice somewhere is because of poverty, which makes society more prone to exploitation, abuse and violence. The survival of many circumcisers are totally based on the initiation of this practice and if we need to eradicate this practice we need to work on generation of employment and end dependency of people on performance of this practice.
• The web of protection should be created which shall include elderly people of the practicing society, attendants of birth giver, and the circumcisers. These people should be primarily targeted to literate about the ill-effects of the practice and why this should be stopped because they are the actual baton holder of this practice. In the end, all of the above ways should be summed up to achieve the 2030 target and effectively work together for eradication of female genital mutilation. While women are reaching the moon, doing something like this to their body without their consent goes totally against the world of equal rights.
CONCLUSION
There is so much said about the practice back and forth. Female Genital Mutilation not just injures the person physically but also mentally, which leave lifelong horror in the heart of the person on whom it has been practiced. FGM is pervasive practice which do require an evidence based and coordinated approach to ensure that people must be aware how females are hounded by the practice and should underpin the complexities caused by FGM. To combat the practice of mutilation, not only we need comprehensive legislation but also a development in social norms so that the new laws are executed widely and properly. The WHO emphasizes the significance of outreach and education in order to get key stakeholders involve within each community, without which the effectiveness of given laws and educative intervention would be significantly lower. There are several reasons to believe that FGM is a soluble problem.