Oct 20, 2020
Female Genital Mutilation, a pride or just a metaphor.
Female genital mutilation is one such practice that stems from the social norms of a girl’s tribe or ethnic group and serves to define her in the context of her community. Female genital cutting or female genital circumcision has the same meaning as female genital mutilation. However, from the 3 names above, World Health Organization prefers to name the process excision of female genitalia as a female genital mutilation or mostly known as FGM.
The World Health Organization has divided female genital mutilation into four broad categories :
Type I, also called clitoridectomy, involves partial or total removal of the clitoris and / or prepuce.
Type II, also called excision, is the partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora.
Type III, also called infibulation, is the narrowing of the vaginal orifice with a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and re-positioning the labia minora and / or the labia majora. Later in life, infibulated women may be cut open on the first night of marriage and / or before childbirth.
Type IV is any other harmful procedure to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, such as pricking, piercing, incising, scraping or cauterization.
Based on UNFPA, Types I and II are most prevalent and Type III the infibulation is experienced by about 10 per cent of all affected women.
Female genital mutilation has no health value. Still, the value of a girl in some societies is closely tied to this tradition. According to Isha Daramy, someone who works in the health sector in Sierra Leona told us that about 95% of women in Sierra Leone are circumcised. For such a large number, it is not easy to erase it, this is a customary / traditional issue, customary habits are habits that have been inherent in the community. Then, why is FGM still being implemented in some communities? some countries believe not to educate girls, because girls will not provide benefits to the family.
But, when a woman is educated, she thinks better. If we talk about FGM, we can come to a solution to carry out a health education like what was done in Soweis, they come up to some traditional birth attendants and through them, they can explain the dangerousness of FGM to the community better, because in some communities opposing customs is seen as a thing that can endanger our lives as a natural persons.
This is not just a health issue, but also an issue of a human rights. According to research conducted by Professor Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, a women activist in Indonesia, there needs to be intensive communication with local leaders regarding human rights so that violations that occur due to customary law do not occur again, there must be an institution that identifies any customary law. Which one does violate the human rights and which do not.
The issue of Female Genital Mutilation has been researched by various organizations. In 2008, UNFPA and UNICEF came together and created a program called “Joint Program on FGM”, a major global movement to accelerate the elimination of FGM. With the support of UNFPA and other UN agencies, many countries have also passed legislation banning FGM and developed national policies to achieve its abandonment. But laws won’t succeed on their own. Every person can take action.
