Understanding Female Genital Mutilation

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a tradition that has been practiced for centuries by many countries. FGM is the partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia and is usually carried out on girls between the ages of five to 15-years-old - without the girls consent. There are four different types of FGM.

It is estimated that around 200 million girls and women worldwide alive today have undergone some form of FGM, and every year, around three million girls are at risk. This practice serves no medical purpose or benefit but it is carried out for social, cultural or religious reasons, as it is a socially upheld behavioural rule that is expected by the community and individuals. The health risks that come with FGM are staggering, as the practice can result in infection, serious bleeding, fertility problems and even in some cases, death.

FGM is most common in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. However, it is also practiced in South America, Europe and the UK - despite being illegal. FGM is documented in roughly 30 countries. Somalia and Guinea-Bissau have the highest prevalence rate, with 98 per cent. Egypt also has one of the highest rates with 91 per cent of girls and women having undergone FGM.

In order to tackle something as serious and complicated as FGM, its roots and its cultural significance must be identified. Miranda Dobson, the senior communications manager for Orchid Project, a UK-based charity that advocates for the end of FGM, said:

“Female genital cutting can have devastating and lifelong impacts on the lives of girls and women.

“The practice violates human, women’s and child’s rights, so in that community there’s violence against women and girls, which isn’t just affecting the girl herself, it’s affecting everyone around her and it increases gender inequality... the impacts within the community are definitely felt.”

Orchid Project refers to this practice as Female Genital Cutting. Dobson said:

“We use certain terminology like FGC because the communities we work with ask us to do that. The approach we cater for is a non-judgmental approach and that kind of goes down to the language and that means using terminology a community can relate to and doesn’t feel judged by, which allows them to talk openly about the practice. The term mutilation can be received as judgmental. However, we know and respect different people's choices to use different terminology and some of our survivor’s feel the terminology FGM rings true because that is their experience.”

FGM is practiced for a variety of different reasons, but ultimately it is because it is a social norm. Dobson said:

“Normally in communities FGC is taboo, it's not normally spoken about, so it continues unquestioned because everybody expects that it continues.

“One of the things that we talk about, as an example of how that works within the UK in terms of a social norm amongst women, is that we shave our armpits and if we don’t, normally there’s a social sanction with it. It works in a similar way as it’s a group decision on how we behave and that’s why FGC continues.”

Dobson discusses the correlation between FGM and a lack of education for girls and women in developing countries. She says although there isn't a lot of data and information on that, there still is a clear link and a lot of girls drop out of school earlier than they might have done if they hadn't been cut. She said:

“In Kenya where we work with partners at the grassroots level, we recently did a baseline study that found there’s a correlation between that of people who have a high level of education, as they’re more likely to support abandonment of the practice. Whereas, people who have lower levels of education are more likely to support the continuation of the practice.”

FGM can be deeply ingrained in a community’s culture and is a traditional practice for some. In order to tackle FGM, corrupt views on women, femininity and modesty, that are harmful and dangerous to girls and women, needs to be changed. FGM is performed with the belief that the girl is entering womanhood and once she has undergone it, she is perceived as pure, clean and will make a better wife and mother. Whereas, for girls and women who have not undergone any form of FGM, they are considered dirty and promiscuous. The notion that a girl is "dirty" or "not clean" because she hasn't had her genitalia cut, stems from many misconceptions and false beliefs about vaginas. Educating both girls and boys about these misconceptions will help fight against FGM and gender-based violence.

The effects of FGM surpasses just physical complications, as it impacts a girl’s ability to live her life and achieve in any form of education. It affects girls and women on a social and economic level - creating a cycle in which girls and women are held back, meaning gender equality cannot be achieved if FGM still remains a regular and normalised practice.