On Abolishing Female Circumcision
by Ima Writer
Female genital mutilation is a widespread human rights violation that abounds in
Africa and areas of the Middle-East. It violates the human right of a freedom from
torture, as this procedure is most certainly torturous. This practice is also a human rights
violation against children. It violates young girls usually aged 10-12, however sometimes
as young as infants. The idea that circumcision is a rite of passage, or that it is a cultural
tradition, and the fact that the young girls are often subjected to this against their will,
shows that this practice is a systematic violation. It is a state or a society which holds this
up as a norm, and pressures for it to continue. In some areas religious reasons are given to
defend the practice, even though religious scholars condemn it.
Female circumcision, also called female genital mutilation, is classified into three levels
of severity by the WHO. Type 1 (excision of the clitoral hood), Type 2 (excision of
clitoris and part of labia minora), and Type 3 (infibulation, or the removal of the clitoris,
labia minora, and labia majora, and the stitching of the vaginal opening). The procedure
is often done under unsanitary conditions, exposing the young girls to infection and
disease, including HIV/ AIDS. Serious medical complications and even death are not
uncommon following a circumcision. Even if the procedure was carried out perfectly,
recovery can take months, and the girl is forced to lie immobile, in pain, as she heals. The
practice is nearly ubiquitous in some developing countries like Egypt, Somalia, Sudan,
Sierra Leone, with roughly 90% of the female population circumcised.[1] Yet in other
developing nations it is absent. An estimated 100-140 million women have gone through
with the practice, with 2 million young ladies joining their ranks each year. It is clearly a
pressing human rights concern.
While one could write an entire report just on the horrifying violations of human
rights, this paper will focus on methods for combating female circumcision. It will
analyze efforts to made to fight female genital mutilation, and compare the successes they
have had. Successful campaigns need to appeal to the specific community, so there is no
one-size-fits-all method. This paper will analyze what makes certain movements
unsuccessful, and, drawing from that insight, offer solutions for the best methods to
abolish female circumcision.
I.
Who Can End FGM?
Who has the power to enact change? For one, national governments have the power to
outlaw it and enforce penalties for anyone who commits it. Second, religious leaders and
organizations can decry the practice. Islamic officials have declared that female
circumcision is contrary to Shariah law and has no basis in the Koran.[2] This
announcement undermines the legitimacy of those that claim to practice FGM in
accordance with religious law. Third, nongovernmental and intl. organizations have the
ability to end this tradition. Training programs and workshops are designed to educate
villagers about the risks and push for reform.
II.
Models to End FGM
There have not been active, organized efforts to end female circumcision in
many of the states where it exists. For this reason, I will primarily compare the different
existing models of abolition. One model is the Egypt model, where there has been
powerful social movements led by government, religious leaders, and activists. The
Egypt model encompasses a wide array of allies, combining parts of the above
approaches to create a powerful front dedicated to one unified purpose. Under the Egypt
model, female circumcision is banned.[3] The ban means that no member of the medical
community can perform the practice without punishment.[4] The media figures largely
in Egypt’s efforts; heavy publicity given to abolishing FGM has helped shatter social
taboos against public discussion.
A second model is the Tostan model in Senegal, where an educational non-governmental
organization in cooperation with UNICEF and the Senegalese government sponsored a
two year education program. It informed villagers about the health risks and nonuniversality of the custom and this led to villagers publicly pledging not to continue with
their efforts in endeavoring in the practice.[5] The public pledge spread to neighboring
villages as well, and has seriously reduced occurrences. The hallmark of this program is
that it is educational, not coercive, and does not try to force a change in behavior—they
allows women to decide for themselves whether or not to subject their daughters to it.
Villagers took it upon themselves to end the practice they were not forced to end it.
A third model is the Alternative Rites model. The educational program itself is supposed
to substitute FGM as the rite of passage into womanhood. Under this model, an
‘alternative rite of passage’ of education about the history, cultural relevance, and risks of
female circumcision is meant to replace the traditional practice.[6] This model faces a
difficult task, as it tries to promote change from the bottom-up, it’s advantage lies in the
fact that NGOs can affect more of a change than might occur from a top-down
government ban where laws are laxly enforces.
There are two additional models which I’ll mention only briefly, because they try to curb,
not abolish, the practice. The model of ‘Sterilising the Practice’ is not an effort to end
female circumcision. Rather, it aims to curb the risk of infection and disease by sterilising
the tools used. The medical community oversees the procedure, nurses are dispatched to
teach proper, sanitary techniques. The Kenyan government supported this model, and
their Ministry of Health enforced the changes. [7] Nonetheless, the Sterilise the Practice
model reveals that the practice is in many ways so culturally accepted that the movement
is not trying to abolish it, it is only concerned with making it hygienic. This practice
peaked during the 1990’s AIDS epidemic, and is largely discredited today. The UNFPA,
UNICEF, the WHO and several African governments have all declared that no member
of medical community should perform female circumcision under any circumstances,[8]
so this movement lost a lot of credibility.
The second nonabolition model is the ‘Less Severe’ model, where people that have
received education on the topic opt to continue carrying it out, but change the kind of
circumcision. Instead of performing the radical Type 2, Infibulation, villagers will adopt
Type 1, where the clitoral hood is nicked or excised. Like the Sterilise the Practice model,
the Less Severe model modifies behavior, making it less invasive and dangerous, yet it
shows that the practice is so culturally entrenched that the movement is to reform, not
abolish, female circumcision.
  Outlawing the practice is not enough. In the trouble spots in the Middle East
and Africa laws are unclear. Bans often restrict the medical community from practicing
female circumcision, but do not outlaw it for everyone. Many groups who continue
practicing it are simply unaware of any anti-FGM legislation.[9] This is because of no
awareness, as many countries with female circumcision laws on the books do not enforce
them. In order for the practice to be abolished, serious government efforts need to be
supplemented by the citizens’s support. Traditional beliefs and social views must be
changed so that people will cooperate with the anti-FGM movement. The biggest
obstacle to changing these beliefs is that public discussion of female genital cutting is
often a taboo because social workers for nongovernmental organizations have found that
when these taboos are broken and this matter is discussed, members of practicing villages
are increasingly against the practice of female genital mutation. The taboo nature has kept
the extent of the practice a well kept secret.
III.
Un-covering FGM in Other Areas
Before female genital mutilation can be abolished, it must be realised by the
world how widespread it is. It’s important to note that FGM exists beyond Africa. The
practice is prevalent in the Middle East, though this fact is drastically understated.
Scholars Thomas van der Osten-Sacken and Thomas Uwer wrote a paper on the
connection between Islam and FGM in which they questioned how Egypt, which is in
Africa but is historically Arab and is culturally linked to the Middle East, could have
such a high percentage of FGM, but neighboring nations in the Middle East could have so
little. Data on the amount of FGM in the Middle East is not very reliable, as there has not
been enough independent field research. Many of the statistics come from national
governments who are dedicated to hiding this practice from international eyes.
Nongovernmental organizations typically have reliable numbers, as they don’t have a
agenda like the governments do. Unfortunately and lamentably, in some instances, NGOs
simply accept the numbers which are provided by governments without undertaking any
independent research. This accounts for the frustrating inconsistencies in data. For
instance, Amnesty International only cities a few areas in Yemen as having FGM. But
UNICEF reports that in addition to Yemen the practice occurs in Jordan, Gaza, Oman,
and Iraqi Kurdistan.[10] What accounts for this disparity? UNICEF based their figures
on field research, which uncovered the disturbing truth that FGM is far more widespread
than is typically known.
A lack of independent field research in the past led to an underestimation of the
degree to which FGM was practiced in the Middle East. The focus of international
attention has previously been solely on Africas’ abuse, however some shocking
discoveries have been brought to light by recent NGO. In 2003, A German-Austrian
NGO called WADI began working to bring medical help to Kurdish areas of Iraq. Their
all-female medical teams were able to gain the trust of the insular community of Kurds in
the Garmian region of Iraq. Eventually, women confided that they had been subjected to
a particularly unhygienic form of FGM - broken glass, ash, and mud. WADI’s research
found that there was a female genital cutting rate of 58.7% in the Ganmian region. This
discovery was alarming because Iraq had previously been unrecognized as a haven of
FGM. In Irbil and Kirkuk, other governorates of Iraq, similar statistics were
revealed.[11] WADI also found that most women perceive the practice as ‘normal,’ and
see FGM as a religious obligation. How widespread is Female Genital Cutting throughout
the Middle East? There is no conclusive evidence, because of the fact that Middle East
governments deny it’s existence, and there has not been any independent NGO work. It
certainly appears that WADI’s discovery would just be the tip of the iceberg; as the
reasons for its practice in Iraqi Kurdistan are the same reasons it is practiced in other
regions.
…
V.
Discrimination Against Women
Female Genital Cutting denies women their full humanity in order to control her
sexuality. There is an indication of male oppression of women in societies where the
reason ‘controlling female sexuality’ is given. This oppression can be combated in two
ways. First, like the health education programs, villagers in FGM areas need to learn that
FGM does not guarantee chastity or prevent homosexuality. Many parents agree to have
their daughters undergo genital cutting in good faith mistakenly believing it will prevent
immoral behavior. Denouncing this superstition will help end FGM. Second women need
to become empowered by their societies through increased education and higher
socioeconomic statuses. Once their statuses are higher, subordination practices like FGM
will become less acceptable.
…
VII.
Government Action and Inaction
There is a discrepancy between the stated goals of international forums and
government action at the national level The AU has a goal to end female genital
mutilation on the continent, and the UN General Assembly Special Session on Children
set a goal of total eradication by 2010. On October 26, 2005, the Protocol on the Rights
of Women in Africa, or Maputo Protocol, came in force after being ratified by 15 AU
member states over the course of 2 years. Art. 5 of the Maputo Protocol prohibits the
practice, and aims to end them using legislation and sanctions. The ratification period
took a long time, but the African Union’s threat of sanctions on violating nations as well
as governments concerns about there national reputations was an effective drive for
governments to sign. The focused efforts of the AU have brought the issue significant
attention, that most African governments have been reluctant to do.
It has been made not legal by 16 African countries.[30] Making the practice not legal is
a positive step, but sadly these laws are often not enforced. Only girls below the age of 18
are covered by the Kenyan law, and even then it is largely unobserved. In Tanzania, antiFGM laws are violated, girls have bled to death during the operation but no charges were
ever brought against the circumciser.[31] Some of these violations are not flagrant –
there is a serious lack of awareness. Most ethnic groups who practice genital cutting are
unaware that the practice is illegal.[32] Yet in some instances, the law has been
seriously observed. In Uganda, where FGM is outlawed by the constitution and taken
seriously, the number of occurrences dropped by nearly 75% in a four year period, from
1,100 in 1998 to 647 in 2002.[33] Directly connected to Uganda’s success is its public
awareness campaign. The government hosts an annual awareness day to addresse the
issue. Additionally, NGOs and religious organizations have worked in at the village level
in Uganda, spreading awareness.[34]
The conclusions that one can’t help but to draw from thus is that government
action is necessary; but not sufficient. This issue runs deeper then other crimes. Religious
and cultural traditions seemingly legitimate the problem, while poverty and lack of
awareness keep the tradition growing. There is none reason why FMG continues - there
are multiple reasons that reinforce each other Some of the reasons have become blurred
over time, like religious obligations. Movements to end genital cutting take time and are
different for each region. In closing, here are seven conclusions about combating female
genital mutilation:
1.
International forums, like the UN must compel governments to end this
practice. The fear of international humiliation or possibly trade sanctions, as the
African Union showed, can be successful in exacting cooperation and bullying
governments to actually enforce their laws.
2.
At the very least, governments must be persuaded by the UN to allow
international organizations to carry out independent field research. Only then will
we know the extent of the practice in the Middle East and other regions, and only
then can this issue be addressed.
3.
Awareness campaigns are necessary. Egypt’s use of the media in their
campaign is breaking taboos, which is a necessity. Uganda’s National FMG
Awarness Day and significant media attention are responsible for high awareness
and its high success in ending FMG.
5.
The relationship with religion must not be overlooked. Islamic
organizations like the Muslim Womens Group must use awareness campaigns to
clarify that female genital cutting goes against Islamic tradition and work to
discredit the clerics who advocate it. A lack of awareness is the crux of the
problem, these groups must seek media attention in order to spread it’s important
message.
5.
The socioeconomic reasons for FMG can be solved. Kenya’s campaign
to give capital to circumcisers in order to find new work is laudable. It has been
successful because it attacks the root of the problem. The African Union should
exert diplomatic pressure on other governments to adopt similar policies.
6.
Alternative Rights must be developed to have symbolic, cultural
resonance. The Nongovernmental Organizations who create the new rights will
have to specifically tailor a right for each region.
7.
The UN and AU should encourage governments to start programs that
start Public Pledge campaigns. Public Pledges are a simple and extremely
effective way to enact change.
[NOTE: there is no need to edit the citations; these are here so you can see
how the author supported assertions]
[1] “Small Revolution in Cairo,” Amira El Ahl, New York Times, Dec. 6, 2006
[2] “What is missing? Female Genital Surgeries in Eritrea,” Lyda Favali, Global Jurist Froniters, April
20, 2001
[3] “Egypt Forbids Female Circumcision,” Magdi Abdelhadi, BBC News June 28, 2007
[4] “The Practice of Female Genital Mutilation,” Karen Ann Gajewski, The Humanist, Nov-Dec 2007
[5] Gerry Mackie, “Ending Footbinding and Infibulation: A Convention Account.” AmericanSociological-Review; Dec. 1996, p. 999-1017
[6] “Introducing Alternative Rites of Passage,” Miroslava Przak, Africa Today, Summer 2007
[7] Introducing Alternative Rites of Passage,” Miroslava Przak, Africa Today, Summer 2007
[8] United Nations Population Fund, “A Holistic Approach to the Abandonment of Female Genital
Mutilation/Cutting.” 2007.
[9] Women’s International Network News, “Tanzania: Law Against Female Genital Mutilation Not
Enforced.” Summer 2003, Vol. 29, Issue 3, p. 28
[10] Thomas von der Osten-Sacken, Thomas Uwer. “Is Female Genital Mutilation an Islamic Problem?”
Middle East Quarterly; Winter 2007, Vol. 14 Issue 1
[11] Thomas von der Osten-Sacken, Thomas Uwer. “Is Female Genital Mutilation an Islamic Problem?”
Middle East Quarterly; Winter 2007, Vol. 14 Issue 1
…
[30] Wairagala Wakabi, “Africa Battles to Make Female Genital Mutilation History.” The Lancet, Vol
369 March 31, 2007
[31] Women’s International Network News, “Tanzania: Law Against Female Genital Mutilation Not
Enforced.” Summer 2003, Vol. 29, Issue 3, p. 28
[32] Women’s International Network News, “Tanzania: Law Against Female Genital Mutilation Not
Enforced.” Summer 2003, Vol. 29, Issue 3, p. 28
[33] Rebecca Buckwater, “No End in Sight: Female Mutilation Unabated.” Harvard International Review,
Vol. 27, Spring 2005
[34] Rebecca Buckwater, “No End in Sight: Female Mutilation Unabated.” Harvard International Review,
Vol. 27, Spring 2005