Mrs. Shearin Honors English 11 February 6, 2009 Female Genital
Mutilation Sheelan Anwar Omer, a seven-year-old Kurdish girl, was
told her mother was planning a party for her in her neighbor's home
(Paley). Instead, Sheelan was forced into a rusty room and locked
inside, where her mother ordered her to remove her pants. The
neighborhood women held her down tightly, despite her objections. A
midwife raised a stainless steel razor blade and shouted: I do this
in the name of Allah! and she sliced off part of Sheelan's
genitals. The girl let out a high-pitched scream that was heard
throughout the neighborhood (Paley). This is known as a form of
female genital mutilation, or FGM. FGM, while being a religious
rite of passage in many cultures, usually results in physical and
psychological damage and should be internationally outlawed. In
many cultures female genital mutilation, is considered a privilege.
FGM refers to purposeful unnecessary procedures performed on female
infants, girls, and women usually in a cultural ritual (Child
Abuse, Third Edition, Clark). Kurdish people think it's done to
control a woman's sexual desires while also making her spiritually
clean (Paley). Many Muslims do it just for the sake of tradition.
The prophet Muhammed performed it, and they believe in following
down the path he drew for them. According to Nicholas Birch-Arbil
of Time Magazine (World), 'Sunna' circumcision is the removal of
the skin covering the clitoris and sometimes the clitoris itself.
Some Muslims attribute to a tradition taught by Prophet Muhammed.
According to the Shafi's School [of Islamic Law] to which we Kurds
belong, circumcision is obligatory for both men and women, explains
Mohamed Ahmed Gaznel (Nicholas Birch-Arbil). In some African
cultures, women are circumcised just to be accepted as an adult
into the tribe (Child Abuse, Clark). Female circumcision is a
horrible, terrifying thing, whether it's being performed by
certified doctors or the village midwife. Women who experience
female genital mutilation report feeling great terror and anxiety
(Child Abuse, Third Edition, Clark). Sheelan Anwar said, I would do
anything not to have this pain, even if [it] meant they would not
eat from my hands. I just wish I could be the way I was before the
procedure. (Paley). Shukria Ismaeel Jarjees was forced by her
family and friends in her Kurdish village to have her daughter
circumcised and now her daughter is complaining of pelvic pain
(Paley). By no means should peer pressure result in the
defeminization of a woman no matter her culture. FGM is a
life-altering procedure, and women that undergo it are effected
mentally and physically. Fatima Siad of America's Next Top Model
said it was near impossible to engage in sexual intercourse without
feeling unbearable pain. Women who undergo FGM don't have the
pleasures of sexual intercourse that other women do. That privilege
is taken away from them before they are even old enough to object.
Instead of sex being an enjoyable moment to anticipate, victims of
the practice dread it. Fatima Siad spoke out as a contestant on the
show, informing many viewers across the country of her pain: When I
was seven, I was circumcised. It's a very traditional positive
thing where I'm from [in Somalia]. Female genital mutilation is
removing the clitoris and sewing the two labia together. I'm going
to dedicate my life to making sure no one goes through what I went
through. As we are talking right now, young girls are being
circumcised and some are dying in the process. As many as four to
five million procedures occur each year, often with no anesthesia
and by non-medical personnel, using razor blades, broken glass, or
other sharp objects (Child Abuse, Third Edition, Clark). The
procedure is usually performed by older women on girls as young as
three years old (Child Abuse, Clark). Do they even give the
children a chance to learn their ABC's before ridding them of some
of the most important parts on their bodies? Many of the procedures
result in severe bleeding, pain, infection, tetanus, and other
complications (Child Abuse, Third Edition, Clark). Adult women
experience painful intercourse, recurrent urinary tract infections,
pelvic infections, and require an episiotomy or reverse procedure
for vaginal childbirth (Child Abuse, Third Edition, Clark). Robin
E. Clark wrote, The labial raw surfaces are stitched together to
cover the urethra and vaginal introitus [(vaginal opening)],
leaving a small opening for urinary and menstrual flow. How kind of
them. Female genital mutilation is becoming less popular due to the
victims' protests, refusal to continue the traditions, and their
speaking out about it. According to Robin E. Clark, it is beginning
to be seen not as a form of 'cultural diversity,' but instead as a
form of child abuse. Though it is most commonly found in parts of
Africa and some areas in Asia and the Middle East, it is known that
some immigrants to the United States and other such countries
continue to practice FGM and they are represented by all major
religions... not just Muslim (Child Abuse, Clark). In the fall of
2006, a Swedish court jailed a Somali-born father after he forced
his thirteen-year-old daughter to undergo FGM (Father Jailed for
FGM Anonymous). Sweden banned FGM in 1982. Kurdish areas' rate of
FGM has dropped from 100% to 50% and is now not required, but
optional (Paley). In February of 2008, the article Sudan Says
Female Genital Mutilation to be Eradicated by 2010 stated that the
Government of National Unity said Sudan would be free of the
practice of FGM by 2010. GONU Minister of Societal Women and Child
Welfare, Samia Ahmad Muhamad, said that the practice was outlawed
in September of 2007. Samia said: Our thanks to mothers who have
cooperated with us in the fight against FGM in their areas, where
they talked with their counterparts from amongst colleagues and
elderly women in villages and rural areas and stood firm in
refusing their daughters or granddaughters to be circumcised. The
anti-FGM campaign was launched by the National Council for Child
Welfare in collaboration with other national and international
organizations working in Sudan (Sudan Says Female Genital
Mutilation to be Eradicated by 2010 BBC Monitoring Middle East).
Since March 1997, female genital mutilation has been illegal in the
United States (Macready). As stated in the article, Female Genital
Mutilation Outlawed in the United States, immigrants coming in to
the states are to be warned that the penalty for circumcising their
daughters is spending up to five years in prison. According to a
census taken in 1996, 168,000 girls in the United States are either
at risk of being mutilated or have been already (Macready). The
United States is a country that has outlawed FGM... think of all
the countries where it is still legal. Think of all the little
girls who are next in line to have it done. It is a huge problem
across the world, and there are uncountable people out there who
know nothing about it and must be informed. Genital mutilation is
something that no girl or woman should have to do through. It's
cruel and demeaning, and every action possible should be taken
against it. Works Cited Birch-Arbil, Nicholas. An End to Female
Genital Cutting? Time Magazine (World) 4 Jan. 2009. Clark, Robin
E., et al. Child Abuse, Third Edition. New York: Facts on File
inc., 2007. 117 (pg). Clark, Robin E. Child Abuse. New York, NY:
Facts on File inc., 2007. 83 (pg). Father Jailed for FGM. General
Reference Center Gold. Herizons. Fall 2006. Gale Group. KHS
Library. 15 Jan. 2009..http://www.galenet.com/servlet/ovrc
Macready, N. Female Genital Mutilation Outlawed in United States.
BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.). November 1996. CNN Database. 30 Jan.
2009..http://www.cnn.com/search Paley, Amit R. Painful Ritual
Resists Call of Modernity. The Virginian Pilot [Norfolk]. 4 Jan.
2009. Siad, Fatima (contestant). Feb. 2008: America's Next Top
Model. New York City: CW7, 2009. Sudan Says Female Genital
Mutilation to be Eradicated by 2010. BBC Monitoring Middle East.
KHS Library. 26 Jan. 2009.http://proquest.umi.com/proquest