Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

At least two hundred million ladies and women in thirty-one countries round the world reside with the results of the harmful practice of female genital mutilation (FGM). The practice is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of women and girls.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic inflicting disruptions in prevention programs, U.N. health officers threatened further two million cases of FGM can surface by 2030 — cases that may have otherwise been averted. And with school closures, women could become a lot of isolated and at risk of FGM in countries wherever it’s still practiced.

To stop the harmful follow, the global organization created the International Day of Intolerance for female genital mutilation determined once a year on February 6^th. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals conjointly decided to finish the practice by 2030.

The following are some female genital mutilation facts and often asked queries.

What is female genital mutilation?

Female genital mutilation is described as the removal of organ or all of the feminine genitals for nonmedical reasons. It's conjointly referred to as circumcision and cutting. The procedure is most frequently done to girls, between birth and age fifteen.

What are causes of FGM?

Often allotted below primitive and unsanitary conditions in absence of anesthetic, FGM will cause severe pain, bleeding, and swelling which will stop passing body waste or feces. In the long term it may cause chronic pelvic infections, urinary tract infections, and birth complications for mothers and children. The horror of the event together with being physically restrained against their wish that affects many women for years. There is no health benefits from the procedure, which is not medically important or condoned by the WHO, most governments, and reputable medical associations.

Where is FGM practiced?

FGM is practiced in thirty-one countries in Africa, the middle East, and Asia. It’s most prevailing in Djibouti, Egypt, Guinea, and Mali, where 90% or more of women aged 15 to 49 are subjected to FGM. With record levels of migration within the last decade, migrants have conjointly carried the harmful practice with them to alternative countries, together with Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US, and Japan.

Why is it still practiced?

Most girls and women who are aware of FGM say they might prefer to see it end, however there's social pressure to continue cutting. Mothers, fathers, relations, and community leaders could force or force women and young ladies to be cut in order that they're going to be accepted as “clean” and prepared for wedding.

 

There’s a trend to own the procedure practiced in a health clinic. Isn’t that better than FGM in unsanitary conditions?

It’s better not be practiced. There’s no medical reason for FGM, and also the long-term effects of FGM are even as harmful either manner. The “medicalization” of FGM serves to permit a violation of human rights and medical ethics, that is why the global organization, the International Federation of gynaecology and obstetrics, and plenty of national medical associations have entirely rejected the practice.

Medicalization of the practice is giving rise to create awareness, concerning one in four girls and women who have undergone FGM were cut by health personnel. Medicalization is specifically common in Egypt, where nearly 80% of girls who have undergone FGM were cut by medical personnel compared to 17% of women aged 45 to 49.

How can we stop for FGM?

Most of the thirty-one countries wherever FGM is practiced have legislated against it. However, till social norms are modified, this practice will continue secretly. World Vision and alternative organizations are educating and empowering women and their communities to stop FGM. There’s sturdy proof that it will be eliminated in one generation.