Female Genital Mutilation – A medieval practice in the 21st
Century.
Mohammed
Salim Patel in Burkino Faso investigates the trauma
millions of women face around the world.
A hospital has been created in Africa to restore the
genitals of females.
Over 100.000000 (one hundred million) women in Africa
have had their genitals mutilated. The mutilation takes place when the women are
young girls. In some parts of Africa it is felt that if a woman is not
mutilated then she is viewed as unclean and wouldn’t get married. The women are
very young girls when they are taken for the cutting and therefore don’t have a
say in the matter. The individuals who carry out the circumcisions are not
trained medical proffessionals and often use razor blades to do the mutilation,
therefore increasing risk of infections because the tools are not steralised.
There are many different forms of mutilation. They vary
from clipping off the cliterus, stretching off the labia or partial\total
removal of the genitalia. The most sever form of mutilation is infibulation –
this is where the outer lips of the cliterus are removed, which causes a lot of
blood loss, a small twig maybe inserted before the wound heals in order to
allow the woman to relieve herself and maintain periods. Once the procedure is
complete the woman’s legs are bound together for up to four weeks, entailing
that intercourse and showering becomes impossible, this is done so that the
husband knows their wife to be is a virgin. Some girls are married off at the
age of 12.
The hospital, ironically named, ‘The Pleasure Hospital’
is based in Burkino Faso, which is one of the poorest countries in the world.
The hospital was set up by the religious movement called the Raelians. They set
up a charity called ‘Cliteraid’ where people were asked to sponsor a cliterus.
Once enough money was raised they decided to open up this hospital. The
Raelians are a religious movement that believe life is for pleasure. Those who
follow the movement believe in UFOs and that the human race is governed by
Aliens outside the earth. The earthly raelians mainly reside in Canada and
California. The hospital has been made
so that those women who have been genitally circumcised get their cliterus restored.
Doctors from America volunteered to launch the hospital and to give guidance
and training to local doctors on how to carry out the operations. The husbands
of those woman who have been mutilated are very keen that their wives get
operated on and repaired.
The mutilation causes severe pain during labour and sex
for the women. It also denies them pleasure.
As part of some
religions, such as Judaism and Islam, male followers are told to undergo
similar cuttings. The men have their penis’s foreskin circumcised and also
shave their pubic hair. This is because it was an action that the Prophets practiced
and authorised. This act is not done to cause pain or discomfort. It is seen as
a form of cleanliness. Female genital mutilation however, has no eligious backings.
Even though some parts of Western Africa, who follow Catholicism, say that it
is a religious practice. The Catholic Church completely forbids the action.
Cultural traditions are being misinterpreted for
religious ones. In the UK up to 24,000 girls, under the age of 18, are at risk
also. Recently there have been incidents where mutilation has taken place in UK
hospitals. Two doctors are currently under questioning by police on the matter.
It is illegal in the UK for female genital mutilation to take place. There are
also reports that mothers send their daughters back to their homelands in
Africa so that the procedure can be done.
On the day of the launch at the hospital the doctors were
told that the Burkino Faso’s Ministry of Health couldn’t allow the hospital to
be open. The Raelians felt that this was because the government don’t agree
with their religious beliefs. However, the American doctors managed to get
local doctors to allow them to use their facilities to fulfil the operations.
In the three days after the start of the operations the American doctors
repaired 29 women’s genitalia. But they were eventually told that their rights
to work in the country were refused and therefore had to leave.
As well as the Raelians standing up, to try and repair the circumcised woman and
prevent this
tradition continuing, many organisations and campaigns have been
launched around the world to create awareness and make a change.
A church in Kenya have started up a project to create an
alternative to circumcisions. Elderly women hold residentials camps where young
women and girls are taught how to cook, be good wives, mothers and women. Previously
these camp would end with circumicison taking place however, it now ends with a
graduation ceremony and the girls are awarded with a certificate.
The project which is called ‘The Alternative Right of
Passage’ is run by the Catholic Diasees
of Meru and The Catholic Relief Services in order to eradicate the previous
practices.
