Thursday, November 8, 2007

Is FGM medically wrong?

Am sure many would think am crazy to ask such a question, I also do not support any inhuman act against mankind. That is why I once wrote about some cultural practices that affect lives of women and girls.

However one reason I decided to revisit this topic and ask this funny question, is because there is a case of some doctors working with women around East Africa, who have claimed there is nothing wrong with female circumcision (referred to as FGM). In fact they say it does not affect a woman’s sexuality in anyway instead it enhances the desire. One also said he had practiced in Kenya and claims that women who have undergone female circumcision go through childbirth smoothly compared to those who have not. They believe it is mzungus(Europeans) who came with the idea that it is bad.

This is shocking to me because many people like me who do not support this, believe it is a brutal act that should be considered a crime. Women who have undergone the practice have also publicly said its wrong.

This also reminded me of a former school mate, who confirmed she underwent through this and would recommend that girls should also go through it for their benefit and I looked at her bewildered.

I also got this from BBC website asking the same.

"Is FGM right or wrong?

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a traditional practice in some African countries. In others, it is banned. Do you think it should be allowed?


According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about a 100m women worldwide have undergone the procedure, which happens to 3m girls under 10 every year."

Read more on this story and comments from people, amazingly there are people who support FGM.

Medically wrong or not I do not support FGM because of the pain it inflicts on the victims and there is no medical benefit from the practice like it is said about male circumcision.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

No question about it, FGM is wrong and very bad. There is this FGM where girls are stiched up before marriage (stitching or narrowing of the virgina). So when they get married thy suffer from painful sexual intercourse and difficulty in childbirth, its VERY INHUMAN and should be stopped.

Proud Kikuyu Woman said...

I don't 'know' if it is medically wrong, what I've heard is that it leads to complications during childbirth. And that makes having sex painful.Whether that's across the board, I don't know.
The main reason I think its wrong is that it takes away part of a woman's femininity.I think the reason its still prevalent in some areas is due to the fact that its culturally entrenched.

Anonymous said...

A Senegalese woman, now living in France, gives her thoughts on being circumcised as a liitle child, in French and in English

Jamii said...

Thanks for all your comments on this subject, no doubt FGM is bad.

Annonymous 2 thanks for sending link to Papillon's blog, I read her story and was really touched.

The Black Mamba said...

There is no medical evidence to support FGM. I'll also like to add the circumcision of newborns. In the US, males are circumcised at birth. No anesthesia!

However, I disagree with the congolese guy. He is not a medical practioner and neither is there evidence to the contrary. I have previously blogged about this.

It is undisputed that circumsision reduces HIV infection rates. Until someone else comes up with data to disprove this, it would be stupid to argue against it.

http://lovelymoney.blogspot.com/2007/09/to-circumcise-or-not-to-circumcise.html

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