Hyderabad: Female genital mutilation (FGM)- a practice which is recognised internationally as a violation of human rights, comprises procedures that involve altering or injuring the female genitalia.
According to the World Health Organisations, social evil has been primarily concentrated in 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Female genital mutilation continues to persist amongst immigrant populations living in Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.
FGM is often motivated by beliefs about what is considered acceptable sexual behaviour. It aims to ensure premarital virginity and marital fidelity. FGM is in many communities believed to reduce a woman's libido and therefore believed to help her resist extramarital sexual acts. When a vaginal opening is covered or narrowed (type 3), the fear of the pain of opening it, and the fear that this will be found out, is expected to further discourage extramarital sexual intercourse among women with this type of FGM.
FGM is often considered a necessary part of raising a girl, and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage.
In India, FGM or cutting (FGM/C) is known as 'khatna' or 'khafz', and involves the removal of the clitoral hood or the clitoris. This practice is common amongst the Bohra community, whose members live in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala. The Bohra community is estimated to be one million strong in India; many also live outside India.
Why is it increasing day by day?
Beliefs and Superstitions
- To 'save' a girl for marriage
- A perceived need to control female sexuality
- Reasons of family honour / social expectation
- As a coming-of-age ritual
- Higher dowries for girls and women seen as more 'chaste'
According to WHO, girls who undergo female genital mutilation face short-term complications such as severe pain, shock, excessive bleeding, infections, and difficulty in passing urine, as well as long-term consequences for their sexual and reproductive health and mental health.
UN Action
The practice has been around for more than a thousand years, there are reasons to think that female genital mutilation could end in a single generation. That is why the United Nations strives for its full eradication by 2030, following the spirit of Sustainable Development Goal 5.
Since 2008, UNFPA, jointly with UNICEF, leads the largest global programme to accelerate the elimination of female genital mutilation. The Joint Programme currently focuses on 17 countries in Africa and the Middle East and also supports regional and global initiatives.
Over the years, this partnership has seen significant achievements. For instance, more than 2.8 million people participated in public declarations of FGM elimination, and the number of communities establishing surveillance structures to track girls doubled and protected 213,774 girls from undergoing the practice.
