By: Melanyn Rivas

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM)

WHAT IS FGM?

• Female Genital Mutilation is the term used for removal of all or just part of the external parts of the female genitalia. There are three varieties to the procedure.

WHY DOES IT OCCUR?• For many women it is part of

social integration and the mutilating process is accepted in return for benefits such as the promise of acceptance in society and the improved prospect of marriage. Older women often believe they have benefited from FGM and that it has been essential to their identity. By the same reasoning they allow it to be performed on their daughters fearing that failure to do so may bring them suffering and social isolation.

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS?

• Immediate complications can include severe pain, shock, bleeding, tetanus or sepsis, urine retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to nearby genital tissue.

• Psychological consequences, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

WHEN DOES A REGIONAL ISSUE BECOMES THE WORLDS RESPONSIBILITY?

• Woman run to find refuge to America and other European countries.

• In 1997, The United Nations Children’s Fund also known as UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund issued a joint statement against the practice of Female Genital Mutilation

• Thank Your for Your Attention!