Running head: FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION/CUTTING: AN AFRICAN DILEMMA 1

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: An African Dilemma

Rebekah Phillips WRT 1020 Professor Gonsior March 30, 2011 Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: An African Dilemma

AN AFRICAN DILEMMA 2

Female genital mutilation/cutting is not a new crisis to befall the African continent. Women have been suffering from the physical and mental effects of this devastating procedure since the days of the Pharaohs. They cannot refuse the operation, as resistance in the forms of parents, friends, and all other imaginable kinds of peer pressure stand ready at all sides, prepared to call the girl any number of names: ugly, cowardly, or the far worse alternative, a whore. In the midst of a country suffering from war, famine, and lack of clean water, a quiet battle rages on for womens independence. Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is an outdated, ineffective practice that needs to be abolished in Africa. There are four major types of FGM/C, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The first is the excision of the prepuce, with or without excision of part of or the entire clitoris (UNFPA). The second form of FGM/C is described as the excision of the clitoris with partial or total excision of the labia minora (UNFPA). Type three is the excision of part or all of the external genitalia and the stitching/narrowing of the vaginal opening (infibulation) (UNFPA). This is generally considered to be the most extreme form of FGM/C. The last and fourth type is a hodgepodge of circumcision that includes pricking, piercing, stretching burning[and the] introduction of corrosive substances or herbs into the vagina (UNFPA). The side effects to this practice are just as terrible, if not worse. Immediately following the procedure fever, shock, hemorrhage and urine retention set in. Tetanus and infection can also follow these symptoms. These horrors do not even begin to cover the future lying before the bedridden child. Menstrual flow is commonly obstructed, and it is often hard for the circumcised girl to both urinate and menstruate throughout her life. When she matures, sexual intercourse will be excruciatingly painful at the worse and unpleasant at best. If the girl ever becomes pregnant, there will be complications giving birth to a child through a damaged and scarred vagina that

AN AFRICAN DILEMMA 3

could very likely lead to death for both mother and child. Life after circumcision can hardly be called a life at all, especially when all of the gifts given naturally to women-childbearing and pleasure-are denied because of traditional scruples (UNFPA). From this introduction to the practice of FGM/C, it can be concluded that the process is excruciating. The question that begs to be asked is why any loving parent would inflict such pain on a child, whose age ranges anywhere from 6-13 (Molleman, G. & France, L. 2009. P.58) when the procedure is performed. Female genital mutilation/cutting is considered a rite of passage, marking the period when a girl becomes a woman, rather similar to the American notion that when a girl has her first menstruation she has reached puberty and will soon begin the long and arduous road to becoming an adult. Female circumcision is also seen as a vital way of keeping womens sexuality under control, preserving- in the minds of many African families, at least-the virginity of the young girl and preventing promiscuity of any kind. For example, the Nandi tribe of western Kenya promotes the practice of FGM/C for this very reason. It is meant to control female sexuality by enhancing marital chastity, Mary Nyangweso writes. It thus limits possible enjoyment of sex for women (Nyangweso, 2002, p.587). For the Nandi, virginity is the greatest quality a young girl can offer. From the age of ten girls sleep in the same room with boys to conquer any sexual urges that may be developing in the growing girls. By the age of fourteen the girls prepare for the circumcision, looking forward to it with great anticipation. The reason for this anticipation is that from an early age the elders in the community teach the girls that certain parts of their anatomy will cause death to any children they may have and could even render their husbands infertile, continuing a deep psychological scar in the psyches of Africas future mothers.

AN AFRICAN DILEMMA 4

They are told if the babys head touches the clitoris of its mother it will die or become abnormal. They are also told that a girl who refuses to be circumcised will have her clitoris grow very long and develop branches (Nyangweso, 2002, p.584). The terror at being the cause of a babys death if uncircumcised is passed on over multiple generations. This being the case, the girls are only too happy to be going through FGM/C, thinking the process will make them become real women at last. To begin the two-day ceremony, the fourteen-year-old girls are made to dance into the night. After dancing strenuously, the girls clitorises are tied together with string and they are stung both on their breasts and clitorises by nettles. The next day the girls are taken to a field and the deed is finally done. The circumciser-usually an elderly woman-cuts the clitoris and follows that by pouring painful herbs on the wound to cause more pain and suffering. If the girls are found to have been sexually active prior to this ceremony great shame is brought upon the girl as well as her family. Parents of such girlsthreaten to kill themselves or kill their daughters. Sometimes such girls commit suicide out of a sense of shame (Nyangweso, 2002, p.586). Suicides from shame are not the only deaths this ceremony causes, however. There are cases when considerable hemorrhaging occurs[.] This could easily lead to death. Such deaths remain secretthis is considered a bad omen (Nyangweso, 2002, p.585-586). Religion is often referred to as the second leading cause for the continuation of the practice of FGM/C after the preservation of a girls virtue. The faith usually cited is Islam. However, the term religion should be broadened more to tradition. The Nandi tribe, for example, certainly does not believe there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger, and despite the efforts of Christian missionaries, they still stick to their ancestral

AN AFRICAN DILEMMA 5

traditions instead of putting faith in a new god. Female genital mutilation has been going on long before the advent of Islam in Africa. So where does this tradition come from? The answer lies in the writings of the Father of History, the Greek writer Herodotus. On his journey through what we would today refer to as the Middle East and the Mediterranean in the year 500 B.C., Herodotus wrote that circumcision for both males and females were common among the Egyptian peoples, as well as the war-like Hittites, the Ethiopians, and the Phoenicians (Mollerman, G. & France, L. 2009. p. 58). A common theory cast about in religious circles is that the Jews, famous for circumcising their men, acquired this habit from their time living in Egypt. Egypt was then a country with advanced medical knowledge stemming from their practice of mummifying bodies, which required the embalmer to know a great deal about human anatomy. This is the reason that infibulation is frequently referred to as Pharaonic circumcision (Mollerman, G. & France, L. 2009.). The tradition of female circumcision has therefore predated Islam and regrettably continues in Egypt today. According to survey done by the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), 96% of women living in Egypt have gone through some form of female genital mutilation/cutting. This means that roughly nineteen out of twenty women are circumcised in Egypt. These Egyptian women are taken to a hospital and cut with a sharp knife, usually without anesthesia or any forms of sterilization. Used instruments are frequently recycled and put to use on other girls, thus furthering the spread of HIV in Africa, the disease that is causing rampant death and destruction today in 2011 (UNFPA). If FGM/C could be eradicated, or at least reduced significantly, chances are that the number of HIVs cases in Africa would go down as well. However, the idea that circumcision is good for girls is hard to erase. I find the issue to be somehow put in a bigger context than it actually deserves, a girl named Noha is quoted as saying in Dewders news article, Female Circumcision in Egypt (Dewedar, 2007).

AN AFRICAN DILEMMA 6

For most Africans, Noha sums up their side of the argument entirely. They do not view it as sacrilegious or controlling for women, and in certain African tribes it is not even about protecting ones virginity the way it is with the Nandi. It is supposed to be a test of bravery, an initiation into adulthood by going through the ancient ordeal of FGM/C. The idea of initiation by showing courage in the face of tribulation also goes back to the Nandi tribes ceremonial attitude towards circumcision. The girls are teased, scorned, and called cowards by their boyfriends, an action meat to stimulate braverythe girls respond byannouncing that they will be brave (Nyangweso, 2002, p.585). Any girl who screams during the procedure is deemed cowardly and weak and is looked down upon by the villagers for feeling something as natural as pain. There is a great amount of psychological distress that goes on in an initiates mind. Nyangweso writes about female genital mutilation/cutting from a Christians perspective, and a great deal of her paper goes into the history of missionaries who worked with the Nandi people. Male converts [to Christianity] were forced to sign that they would not circumcise their daughtersdaughters of Christians had to face ridicule and derision (Nyagweso, 2002, p.589). These daughters were viewed as cowards by the other tribe members and ostracized by their community. Chances of finding a husband for these girls were few and far between, as the girls were viewed as ugly by the men. Nyangweso (2002, p. 589) quotes theologian Teresa Hinga as saying, many uncircumcised Protestant girls could not withstand the psychological tortureand they were secretly circumcised anyway. Tradition and steadfast belief in these ideas keep female circumcision in Africa alive. The only hope of erasing this ancient tradition is to educate the women of Africa, and yet, as missionaries have proved again and again, this task is easier said than done. Most African women have absolutely no intention of changing their traditions, no

AN AFRICAN DILEMMA 7

matter how well educated they are, as it is in the case of Fuambai Ahmadu, an extremely well educated African woman raised in the United States and a proponent of FGM/C. It is difficult for meconsidering the number of ceremonies I have observed, including my ownto accept that what appear to be expression of joy and ecstatic celebrations of womanhood in actuality disguise hidden experiences of coercion and subjugation (Shweder, 2000, P.210. Fuambai Ahmadu.). Ahmadu was already a mature woman and knowledgeable about sexual affairs when she went to Africa to be circumcised. She feels that women are empowered by circumcision, and the author Robert Shweder agrees with her philosophy (Shweder, 2000, p.210). Shweder is quick to refer to what he calls the Mutual Yuck Response (Shweder, 2000, p.216), or the natural tendency of different people to feel initial confusion towards cultural traditions and differences. As hard as it may be for us to believe, in places where female circumcision is commonplace it is not only popular but fashionable (Shweder, 2000, p.219). He compares the practice to tattoos and piercings in America, a process that is initially painful but makes the person more attractive in the eyes of many. In changing the outward appearance of a person through a few moments of pain there is the ending effect of a lasting beauty. They view unmodified genitals as ugly, unrefined, and undignified, and hence not fully human (Shweder, 2000, P.219). This is the mindset that the Africans are set upon, and it would be as hard to change their opinions on FGM/C as it would be to stop all American teenagers from piercing their ears. Yet so many women in Africa are unaware of anything else that they are unable to make an informed choice, thereby pressing their daughters into making the same torturous decision they themselves made. Too young by human rights advocates standards to go against the crowd, as the age at which girls are generally circumcised is too young to make an informed decision (Nyangweso, 2002, p.591),

AN AFRICAN DILEMMA 8

these girls do not really even have a choice in the matter. Girls are forced to go through an ancient tradition that they do not understand and is irreversible. They are unwittingly taking away the organ that will give them pleasure during sexual union, causing themselves pain and suffering that will last forever, and the act of circumcision could easily kill them during childbirth or even take their ability to bear a child away. The question remaining is how to educate the women of Africa and help them to let go of their old prejudices and notions of what is womanly. UNICEF and UNFPA have been doing an excellent job in helping African women make their own informed opinions about female circumcision. Due to their efforts, the percentage of girls whose FGM/C is performed by medical personnel has increased (UNFPA) meaning that more and more often girls are circumcised under the right circumstances, with sterilized knives to prevent the spread of HIV and modern medicine that lowers the chances of dying during the procedure or following. While this is a good improvement, is still not enough. In 2007, following the death of a twelve-year-old due to circumcision, a march was held her honor, followed by speeches explaining why FGM/C is such a terrible practice (Dewedar, 2007). These marches were supported by the previous first lady of Egypt, Suzanne Mubarak, who began a private campaign of her own called The Beginning of the End, a project focused on getting the word out about FGM/C and breaking media restrictions on the subject (Molleman, G. & Franse, L. 2009. p. 59). Religious leaders as well have begun to speak out. Pope Shenouda III, the leader of the Coptic Church in Egypt and the Grand Mufti of Cairo have denounced the ancient practice and encouraged their followers to cast it aside (Molleman, G. & Franse, L. 2009. p. 59). For smaller African villages, UNFPA began the FGM-Free Village Project, a group that works with 120 different towns to combat FGM/C. UNFPA also began the Tsary Ntomonik Initiative, which gives girls running away from

AN AFRICAN DILEMMA 9

circumcision a safe house in which to live (UNFPA). Many governments have become more outspoken about the dangers of female circumcision and even banned the practice completely. Despite government misgivings, however, many people continue to circumcise their daughters, unable to imagine a different life despite the efforts of UNICEF and UNFPA. This is where a controversial idea begun by a Somali doctor living in Italy comes into play. Dr. Omar Abdulcadir is a gynecologist, and in his line of work he has seen many immigrants suffering from the side effects of FGM/C. He knew the horrors of circumcision firsthand from watching his seven sisters go through the ordeal, and yet he also knows how hard it is to eradicate deeply rooted traditions spanning back to the days of the Pharaohs. His proposal is that he be allowed to practice a symbolic circumcision in which the tip of the clitoris is pierced enough to produce a few drops of blood, but not deeply enough to leave any lasting effects at all. My proposal isnt ideal, he is quoted as saying, but is there a better way to save the children? (Bruni, 2004). While not, in Abdulcadirs words, ideal, this middle road would nonetheless make room for the African tradition of FGM/C and modern sensibilities to merge and come into focus. Dr. Abdulcadirs idea is a radical and controversial one, but it is a tolerant view that should not be cast off entirely (Bruni, 2004). Since the days of the Pharaohs, women have been circumcised all over Africa. These traditions are deeply rooted in the minds of the people, along with the notion that FGM/C promotes chastity and makes the body more beautiful. Medical research has proven otherwise, however, and it is important to remember that while respecting another culture is important, it is equally important if not more so for women to be able to love themselves and their bodies. Women should not feel pressured to enter a lifestyle in which they will be in constant pain from shock, hemorrhaging and an inability to urinate. The only way to rescue the people of Africa is in

AN AFRICAN DILEMMA 10

educating them on what female genital mutilation/cutting really is and having trustworthy figures of influence, such as religious leaders, denounce the practice. Men also need to become aware of this social issue and begin to fight for womens equality and rights as human beings. Only in this way can the next generation of women be liberated from a lifetime of pain and often fatal suffering.

References

AN AFRICAN DILEMMA 11

Bruni, F. (2004, February 1). Doctor in Italy tries to ease pain of an African tradition. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/.

Deweder, R. (2007, July 16). Female circumcision in Egypt. IslamOnline.net. Retrieved from http://www.islamonline.net/

Molleman, G. and Franse, L. (2009). The struggle for abandonment of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) in Egypt. Global Health Promotion. 58-70. doi: 10.117711757975908100752.

Nyangweso, M. (2002). Christs salvific message and the Nandi ritual of female circumcision. Theological Studies, 63(3). 579-600.

Sheweder, R.A. (2000). What about female genital mutilation? And why understanding culture matters in the first place. Daelus. Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 129(4). 209-232.

UNFPA (2007). A holistic approach to the abandonment of female mutilation/cutting. New York, NY: UNFPA.

UNICEF. (2005). Female genital mutilation/cutting: a statistical exploration 2005. New York, NY: UNICEF.

AN AFRICAN DILEMMA 12

Yusuf, F. (2010). Curbing female genital mutilation: the role of information and libraries. Gender & Behavior, 8. 3089-3101.