Female2Female

Female Circumcision

Posted on 25. Nov, 2009 by Laura in Uncategorized

Africa is a continent steeped in tradition. It is a hugely diverse place. There are many cultures, languages, tribes, religions and people.

Some of these traditions and cultures are beautiful. African cultures acknowledge family and community and the notion ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. I often look at some of their traditions and am a little envious of the spirit of their culture.

But with beauty seems to come darkness. There is a dark side to Africa. There is a dark side to their cultures and traditions. One of those dark sides is female circumcision. It is something that still exists all through Africa – including South Africa.

What is it exactly?

Wikipedia defines it as

Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting (FGC), female circumcision or female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), is any procedure involving the 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.

The main reason for this act seems to be some sort of rite of passage for young girls. Once the procedure has been done they are seen as women capable of enduring the pain of childbirth. They are often showered with gifts after the procedure and are seen as pure.

It also appears that mothers allow their daughters to undergo this painful and undignified procedure because they fear the shame more than they believe that their daughter will indeed be pure and a women once she has had it done.

The actual procedure is painful. It is often done in rural townships by unqualified people with dirty instruments and no anaesthetic or pain medication. It can also be done publicly in some places. The use of unhygienic equipment mean that these young girls are exposed to infection, that can be fatal.

“When girls of my age were looking after the lambs, they would talk among themselves about their circumcision experiences. Every time the other girls talked about their infibulated genitals, I would feel ashamed I was not yet circumcised. Whenever I touched infibulated girls, they would tell me not to touch them since I was [still] “unclean.”… One day I could not stand it anymore. I took a razor blade and went to an isolated place. I tied my clitoris with a thread, and while pulling at the thread with one hand I tried to cut part of my clitoris. When I felt the pain and saw the blood coming from the cut I stopped …. I was seven years old.” (Abusharaf 1998).

Some of you have daughters of seven. Imagine if they had to worry about something like this? My daughters biggest concern right now is when I am taking them to Spur.

This issue is still largely unspoken about. It seems that because it forms part of a culture, it is acceptable and largely unchallenged. While I firmly believe we need to keep tradition alive and cultivate what is beautiful and pure about culture – I do not believe in willfully and intentionally inflicting potentially fatal procedures onto innocent women whose right to choose has been taken away.

It is wrong, on every level. Seven year old little girls should be worrying about fairies and tea parties – not cutting themselves and inflicting unimaginable pain on themselves.

Again the grown ups let the kids down!

Information found here and here and here

Tags: female circumcision, womens rights