Female circumcision
Female circumcision or Female genital cutting (FGC) refers to amputation of any part of the female genitalia for cultural rather than medical reasons. The term almost always excludes gender reassignment surgery, which is usually done for personal rather than cultural reasons, or genital modification of intersexuals.
The United Nations and Amnesty International have referred to this practice as Female Genital Mutilation. However, in 1996 the UNFPA-sponsored Reproductive, Educative, And Community Health program coined the term 'female genital cutting', observing that the former term may "imply excessive judgement by outsiders as well as insensitivity toward individuals who have undergone excision."
Most human rights organizations in the West, Africa, and Asia consider female genital cutting rituals a violation of human rights. Among these groups and governments, they are regarded as unacceptable and illegal forms of body modification and mutilation of those believed to be too young or otherwise unable to give informed consent.
The procedure was legally practiced by doctors in the United States until 1996, and is still common in many developing countries, some at rates exceeding 95%.
Opponents of these practices use the term female genital mutilation (FGM). The term female circumcision is also in common usage, though advocates of male circumcision argue that this results in unwanted associations between the two practices, while genital integrity advocates might refer to all child genital cutting as mutilation. Some also argue that gender assignment surgery of intersexuals should be referred to as mutilation. The term encompasses a wide variety of practices some of which are frequently equated directly with male circumcision, others which involve a far greater level of cutting or mutilation and others yet which involve no real cutting or mutilation.
The expression “female genital mutilation" (FGM) gained growing support in the late 1970s. The word “mutilation" not only establishes clear linguistic distinction with male circumcision, but also, due to its strong negative connotations, emphasizes the gravity of the act. In 1990, this term was adopted at the third conference of the Inter African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC) in Addis Ababa. In 1991, the World Health Organization recommended that the United Nations adopt this terminology and subsequently, it has been widely used in UN documents.
The use of the word “mutilation" reinforces the idea that this practice is a violation of the human rights of girls and women, and thereby helps promote national and international advocacy towards its abandonment. At the community level, however, the term can be problematic. Local languages generally use the less judgmental “cutting" to describe the practice; parents understandably resent the suggestion that they are “mutilating" their daughters. In this spirit, in 1999, the UN called for tact and patience regarding activities in this area and drew attention to the risk of “demonizing" certain cultures, religions and communities. As a result, the term “cutting" has increasingly come to be used to avoid alienating communities.
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Female_circumcision ]
| Articles related to Body Modification | |
|---|---|
| Addition to Tissue | |
| Modification of Tissue | |
| Removal of Tissue | |
| Genital Modification | |
| History | |
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