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Female Genital Mutilation

Female Genital Mutilation. Edge Hill Feminist Society Tuesday 25 th February, 2014. Stopping FGM: Some myth de-bunking. Quick quiz: true or false. Stopping FGM: Some myth de-bunking. FGM is not a religious issue FGM is an Africa-only problem FGM is not supported by the Qu’ran

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Female Genital Mutilation

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  1. Female Genital Mutilation Edge Hill Feminist Society Tuesday 25th February, 2014 Kate Frazer

  2. Stopping FGM: Some myth de-bunking • Quick quiz: true or false. Kate Frazer

  3. Stopping FGM: Some myth de-bunking • FGM is not a religious issue • FGM is an Africa-only problem • FGM is not supported by the Qu’ran • FGM is primarily perpetuated by women • FGM is not, and never has been, a Western problem • FGM is performed to increase a girls chances of marriage • FGM is not linked to child marriage • True • False • True • True • False • True • False Kate Frazer

  4. Key Facts • Female genital mutilation (FGM) includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. • The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women. • Procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, infertility as well as complications in childbirth increased risk of newborn deaths. • About 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of FGM. • FGM is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15. • In Africa an estimated 101 million girls 10 years old and above have undergone FGM. • FGM is a violation of the human rights of girls and women. Female Genital Mutilation, The WHO, February 2013, <http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/> [accessed 21/01/2014]. Kate Frazer

  5. No health benefits, only harm • FGM has no health benefits, and it harms girls and women in many ways. It involves removing and damaging healthy and normal female genital tissue, and interferes with the natural functions of girls' and women's bodies. • Immediate complications can include severe pain, shock, haemorrhage (bleeding), tetanus or sepsis (bacterial infection), urine retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to nearby genital tissue. • Long-term consequences can include: • recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections; • cysts; • infertility; • an increased risk of childbirth complications and newborn deaths; • the need for later surgeries. For example, the FGM procedure that seals or narrows a vaginal opening (type 3 above) needs to be cut open later to allow for sexual intercourse and childbirth. Sometimes it is stitched again several times, including after childbirth, hence the woman goes through repeated opening and closing procedures, further increasing and repeated both immediate and long-term risks. (www.who.int) Kate Frazer

  6. Who is at risk? • Procedures are mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15, and occasionally on adult women. In Africa, more than three million girls have been estimated to be at risk for FGM annually. • More than 125 million girls and women alive today have been cut in the 29 countries in Africa and Middle East where FGM is concentrated (1). • The practice is most common in the western, eastern, and north-eastern regions of Africa, in some countries in Asia and the Middle East, and among migrants from these areas. Kate Frazer

  7. FGM and Human Rights Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a harmful practice that is recognised worldwide as a human rights vilation. The practice of FGM violates: • Right to physical and mental integrity • Right to highest attainable standard of health • Right to be free from all forms of discrimination against women (including violence against women) • Right to freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment • Rights of the child, and • in extreme cases, right to life FGM has been documented in certain parts of Africa, Asia and Middle East. It is now encountered in Europe as well. Most often, girls and women are taken to their countries of origin during school holidays where they are confronted with the pressure to be cut. The European Parliament estimates 500,000 girls and women living in Europe are suffering with the lifelong consequences of female genital mutilation. The EU has the power to act. Amnesty International launched the END FGM European Campaign to ensure that the EU acts now to end this practice and protect women and girls. ‘Facts and Figures’, EndFGM, <http://www.endfgm.eu/en/> [accessed 21/01/2014]. Kate Frazer

  8. End FGM: European Campaign Video: Art for action to end female genital mutilation Kate Frazer

  9. What is Female Genital Mutilation? The removal of part, or all, of the female genitalia. There are different forms of FGM of varying severity: • Infibulation • Clitoridectomy • Excision Kate Frazer

  10. Type 1 FGM Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals) and, in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris).This practice is extremely painful and distressing, damages sexually sensitive skin and is an infection risk. (dofeve.org) Kate Frazer

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  12. Type 2 FGM Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are the ‘lips’ that surround the vagina). This practice is extremely painful and distressing, damages sexually sensitive skin and is an infection risk.  (dofeve.org) Kate Frazer

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  14. Type 3 FGM Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and sewing over the outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris or inner labia. This practice is extremely painful and distressing, damages sexually sensitive skin and is an on-going infection risk. The closing over of the vagina and the urethra leaves women with a very small opening in which to pass urine and menstrual fluid. The opening can be so small that it needs to be cut open to be able to have sexual intercourse. Cutting is also needed to give birth and can cause complications which harm both mother and baby. (dofeve.org) Kate Frazer

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  16. Type 4 FGM Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping, stretching and cauterising the genital area. (dofeve.org) Kate Frazer

  17. Living with FGM • Mental and Emotional Health • Sexuality, Sex and Intercourse • Pregnancy and Labour • Cervical Smear Test • Menstruation • Passing urine Kate Frazer

  18. Reversing FGM? ‘It is possible to have a small procedure to open the scar and this is often called a reversal or de-infibulation.  This is done in a specialist clinic usually with a local anaesthetic which is an injection which will numb the area so the nurse, doctor or midwife can open the scar. The skin will be stitched at either side of the scar to keep it from healing together again and you will usually heal very quickly. The stitches will dissolve and you will not need to have them removed.’ (dofeve.org) Kate Frazer

  19. FGM in the UK Integrate Bristol: Silent Scream The Independent, Thursday 6th February 2014: ‘Doctors accused of failing to report suspected cases of female genital mutilation’ The latest figures suggest that as many as 66,000 women in England and Wales have undergone FGM and 23,000 girls under the age of 15 are “at risk”. (Emma Clark, independent.co.uk) Kate Frazer

  20. FGM in the UK (2) Kate Frazer

  21. Stopping FGM: Campaigning Organisations • Daughters of Eve • Forward UK • The Orchid Project • Women’s Resource Centre • Integrate Bristol • The Dahlia Project • NHS Services • FGM National Clinical Group • World Health Organisation (WHO) Kate Frazer

  22. Stopping FGM: Speaking Out An important part of the campaign against FGM is fighting the taboo. By bravely talking about their experiences, women and girls break the secrecy around FGM and stop the misunderstandings. These testimonies are so important to give voice to silenced women and give us all the honest truth about FGM. Speaking out and sharing with others is an important act. (dofeve.org) Kate Frazer

  23. Stopping FGM: Speaking Out (2) Daughter’s of Eve: Female Genital Mutilation The Guardian: I watched my sister die in childbirth The Guardian: FGM – The film that changed the law in Kurdistan Kate Frazer

  24. Stopping FGM: What can you do? The Guardian: End FGM Campaign Kate Frazer

  25. Publications WarisDirie,:Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Life of a Desert Nomad (2001); Desert Dawn(2004); Desert Children (2005) Ellen Greunbaum, The Female Circumcision Controversy: An Anthropological Perspective (2000) Kate Frazer

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