Paper Topic:

female circumsition

Female Genital Mutilation FGM There are an estimated ninety to a hundred million women and girls living today in African countries , had some form of female circumcision Circumcision occurs for a number of cultural reasons , such as religion tradition , preserving virginity , and cultural identification . Female Genital Mutilation FGM is a destructive , invasive procedure performed on girls before puberty . Part or whole of the clitoris is surgically removed which leaves them with reduced or no sexual feeling . Among individuals and groups opposed to the mutilation , is seen as a method of reducing the

sexual response of women in to make them less likely to become sexually active before marriage or to seek an extra-marital affair after marriage . To some who promote the operation , it is seen as a cultural requirement that has health benefits and makes women more physically beautiful

The operation is forced on approximately 6 ,000 girls per day , worldwide about one every 15 seconds . Since FGM is practiced when the girls are young , they are unable to give their informed consent . There are about 100 to 140 million women who have been circumcised . An average of about four girls a minute continue to be mutilated . Their clitoris is partially or completely removed . This inhibits or terminates sexual feelings . Orgasms are sometimes impossible to experience later in life Many health problems result from the surgery (Robinson B .A . 2005

This mutilating operation is often associated mainly with the religion of Islam , which is incorrect . Female genital mutilation predated Islam It originated in Africa and remains today mainly as African cultural practice . Although FGM is prevalent in Muslim countries in Africa like Egypt , FGM is rare or xistent in many other Muslim countries like Iran , Jordan , Lebanon , Syria and Turkey . There is misperception by many people that the practice is a religious one . That belief has led to unjustified religious intolerance against Muslims (Robinson B .A . 2005 Female circumcision practiced for centuries in parts of Africa , as a rite of passage preparing young girls for womanhood and marriage . Lay practitioners lacking in knowledge of human anatomy and medicine perform circumcision without anesthetic . Female circumcision can cause death or permanent health problems as well as severe pain . Despite these grave risks , its practitioners look on it as an integral part of their cultural and ethnic identity

Circumcision is performed during infancy , during adolescence or even during a woman 's first pregnancy the procedure is usually carried out on girls between ages 4 and 12 . There are three basic types of genital excision . In the first type , Clitoridectomy , part or amputated , while in the second often referred to as Excision , both the clitoris and the labia minora are removed . Infibulation , the third type is the most severe . After excision of the clitoris and the labia minora the labia majora are cut or scraped away to create raw surfaces , which are held in contact until they heal , by stitching the edges of the wound or by tying the legs together . As the...

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