PROBLEM STATEMENT
Female genital cutting (FGC) is a cultural practice in which women in certain societies have part or all of their female anatomy cut on or removed. More than 130 million women and girls have undergone the procedure, and each year around two million more experienced FGC (Creel et al., 2001). The way it is performed in African communities in villages, elders perform the procedure in varying ways. Some use anesthetic, some do not. Some use surgical tools, others use anything from razor blades to broken glass. No matter how it is used, it is often done to women at a young age, and often without their consent. The more extreme forms of the procedure contribute to the many health risks that are often present in women who undergo FGC. Immediately following the procedure, severe pain and hemorrhaging often occur. Infection and shock are common, as is tetanus and urinary retention (Creel et al., 2001). These side effects often lead to the death of the patient; if not, long-term side effects include urinary incontinence, complications regarding pregnancy and childbirth, abscesses and cysts, as well as psychological and sexual issues that linger on long after FGC has taken place.
BEHAVIORS
The best way to prevent FGC is through education and intervention (Smith, 2001). "Currently, the debate surrounding female circumcision is defined as the woman's individual right to be free of female circumcision versus the tribal group's right to maintain its tribal identity through the practice of female circumcision, free from state interference" (Smith, p. 2449). There are no health benefits to be found in female genital cutting, and the practice is linked to patriarchal attitudes regarding the idea of women experiencing sexual pleasure. The vast majority of these attitudes are cultural, and so cultural change must come about before female genital cutting is to be eradicated as a practice.
References
Ahmadu, F. (2001). Rites and wrongs: Excision and power among Kono women of Sierra Leone. in B. Shell-Duncan and Y. Hemlund, eds., Female 'Circumcision' Africa; Culture, Controversy, and Change. Lynne Reiner.
Creel, L., et al., (2001). Abandoning female genital cutting: prevalence, attitudes, and efforts to end the practice. Population Reference Bureau.
Smith, R.C. (1992). Female circumcision: bringing women's perspectives into the international debate. Southern California Law Review 65: 2449.
Walley, C.J. (1997). Searching for 'voices': feminism, anthropology, and the global debate over female genital operations. Cultural Anthropology 12(3): 405-438.
