Female genital mutilation is a crime image by Arrow.org
Our lives are steeped in traditions, customs and rituals passed down from generation to generation. It is how we makes sense of the lives we lead and how we give them meaning. So, how do you navigate these traditions when they interfere with your basic human rights?
Female genital mutilation is the removing of the external female genitals, sometimes parts of the vulva like the clitoris and other times, the whole vulva. It can be done to females little as infancy by older women. The practice causes physical, psychological as well as sexual problems.
The cutting causes excruciating pain and excessive bleeding which could prove fatal. Because it not a medical procedure, it is done at home with no anesthesia and the female would have to be held. The experience can cause trauma and could alter how they see themselves. It could also cause a significant drop of libido, hindering sexual liberation.
This inhuman female subjection disguised as part of their culture violates women’s rights. Firstly, the females are unlikely to consent to the procedure and secondly, they are prone to coercion with the promise of exclusion and harassment from the society. The dangers like infections and chronic pain outweigh the so-called social benefits the practice is believed to offer.
I believe culture should be there to serve its people and not subject them to life-long suffering. The nice thing about culture is that it not cast into stone and evolves. The law also protects the women but I am also not naïve enough not to realize that it will be long before the culture be on women's side but the awareness that the practice is a violation is one step to the right direction.