Graph of percentage of FGM in different countries

According to child info.org:

http://www.childinfo.org/fgmc_progress.html

Maps of FGM practice in Africa

From University of Pittsburg's International Women's Reproductive Health Panel:
http://www.wstudies.pitt.edu/blogs/cjo9/international-womens-reproductive-health-panel

informational parts from womenshealth.gov

I believe we referenced this website before, but I just re-read it, and I think it covers the opposition very well. Here are a few parts that I thought were the most relevant:
"Why is FGC practiced?

There are many reasons FGC is practiced, including social, economic, and political reasons. Those who support FGC believe that it will empower their daughters, ensure the girls get married, and protect the family’s good name. In some groups, FGC is performed to show a girl’s growth into womanhood and, as in the Masai community, marks the start of a girl’s sexual debut. It also is performed to keep a woman’s virginity by limiting her sexual behavior. FGC is believed (by those who practice it) to stop a woman’s sexual desire. In some groups, women who are not cut are viewed as dirty and are treated badly. While FGC pre-dates both Christianity and Islam, religion is also used to promote the practice. Some communities believe that in order to be good Muslims, parents must have their daughters cut.

There are also many superstitions about FGC, such as:

• The clitoris will continue to grow as a girl gets older and so it must be removed.
• The external genitalia are unclean and can actually cause the death of an infant during delivery.

FGC is often part of a community’s tradition. Most parents who support FGC believe they are protecting their daughter’s future marriage prospects, and not hurting her. It is seen by parents as part of a girl’s upbringing."

"What are the health problems caused by FGC?

FGC can cause a range of health problems, both short-term and long-term. The kinds of problems that develop depend upon the degree of the cutting, the cleanliness of the tools used to do the cutting, and the health of the girl or woman receiving the cutting. In most countries, FGC is performed in unclean conditions by mainly traditional practitioners who may use scissors, razor blades, or knives. In Egypt, though, up to 90 percent of FGC is performed by a health care professional. Almost every girl or woman who receives FGC experiences pain or bleeding.

Short-term health problems:

• Bleeding or hemorrhaging: If the bleeding is severe, girls can die.
• Infection: The wound can get infected and develop into an abscess (a collection of pus). Girls can get fevers, sepsis (a blood infection), shock, and even die, if the infection is not treated.
• Pain: Girls are routinely cut without first being numbed or having anesthesia. The worst pain tends to occur the day after, when they have to urinate onto the wound.
• Trauma: Girls are held down during the procedure, which can be physically or psychologically traumatic.

Long-term health problems (usually occurs to women with the most severe form of FGC):

• Problems going to the bathroom. In severe cases, women are left with only a small opening for urinating and menstrual bleeding. This can slow or strain the normal flow of urine, which can cause infections.
• Not being able to have sex normally. The most severe form of FGC leaves women with scars that cover most of their vagina. This makes sex very painful. These scars can also develop into bumps (cysts or abscesses) or thickened scars (keloids) that can be uncomfortable.
• Problems with gynecological health. Women who have had FGC sometimes have painful menstruation. They may not be able to pass all of their menstrual blood. They may also have infections over and over again. It can also be hard for a health care professional to examine a woman’s reproductive organs if she has had a more severe form of FGC. Normal tools cannot be used to perform a Pap test or a pelvic exam.
• Increased risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV. People who have no medical training, under unclean conditions, perform most forms of FGC. Many times, one tool is used for several procedures without sterilization. There is a growing concern that these conditions greatly increase the chance of spreading life-threatening infections such as hepatitis and HIV. Also, damage to the female sex organs during FGC can make the tissue more likely to tear during sex, which could also increase risk of STIs or HIV.
• Problems getting pregnant, and problems during pregnancy and labor. Infertility rates among women who have had FGC are as high as 25 to 30 percent and are mostly related to problems with being able to achieve sexual intercourse. The scar that covers the vagina makes this very difficult. Once pregnant, a woman can have drawn out labor, tears, heavy bleeding, and infection during delivery — all causing distress to the infant and the mother. Health care professionals who are unfamiliar with the scar will sometimes recommend a cesarean section. This is not necessary as women will be able to deliver vaginally once the scar is cut open. With rising numbers of young women coming to the United States from countries that practice FGC, U.S. doctors have begun caring for more and more patients who have been cut and facing some of these challenges. Based on a study of 28,000 women in 6 African countries, FGC is related to cesarean section, post-partum hemorrhage, episiotomy, extended hospital stays, the need for infant resuscitation, and death. While about 5 percent of babies born to women without FGC were stillborn or died shortly after delivery, this figure increased to 6.4 percent in babies born to women with FGC.
• Psychological and emotional stress. FGC is typically performed on very young girls. Some may not understand what is being done to them or why. The psychological effects of this painful experience are similar to those of post-traumatic stress disorder. Although very rare, girls and women who have had FGC may have problems sleeping, have more anxiety, and become depressed.

In some countries where FGC is performed, leaders have tried to lessen the physical problems caused by FGC by asking hospitals and doctors to do the surgery. This “medicalization” of FGC offends the international medical community, and is seen as a way for FGC supporters to continue the practice. Advocates have charged that doctors should not perform FGC, as their profession requires them to “do no harm” to their patients, despite cultural beliefs and practices."

"What is being done about FGC?

These are the most popular approaches used to try to stop the practice of FGC:

• Community meetings. Group meetings may help change thoughts toward FGC. These meetings need to involve entire communities – girls, boys, women, and men – as well as nearby communities which may also practice FGC. The most successful of these meetings provide opportunities for people to discuss their knowledge of FGC, relate it to their situation, and consider other options. Some examples of these kinds of meetings include:
  • Cross-generational conversations (meetings between older and younger members of a village)
  • Male-female discussions
  • Theatre productions
  • Songs
  • Community declarations

• Education. In some regions, education is slowly changing attitudes and influencing the choice to have FGC. Many programs are culturally sensitive and use respected local women to teach other women and girls in their communities about the harmful effects of FGC. Recent research shows that women in these regions are beginning to support the worldwide call to end FGC. Some of the most important research in recent years has been the work done with Islamic scholars to change the perception that FGC is required by the Koran, the Muslim holy book.
  
  Human rights are at the heart of the abandonment of FGC by some communities. When human rights are shown to be in line with local values (for example, parents should do the best for their children and not cause them harm), attitudes toward FGC can change.

• Substitute rituals. In some countries, cultural groups have successfully replaced FGC with a ritual that does not involve cutting the genitals. In this way, the culture preserves its honor and starts new traditions that cause no harm to women. However, as girls are getting cut at younger and younger ages, often in infancy, these other rites of passage become less relevant.

• Changing attitudes. Right now, women are made to feel disloyal to their culture by choosing not to have FGC. This pressure can change if doctors and other health care workers would talk with women about the dangers of FGC and offer other options that don’t involve cutting. Some human rights advocates also suggest that men could help reduce the practice of FGC by openly marrying uncut women. Many human rights organizations are also calling on religious leaders to openly confirm that their religions do not require women to have FGC.

• Laws. The choice to have a procedure with such permanent physical and emotional effects should only be made by an adult woman for herself.
  
  Some suggested legal actions against FGC include:
  • Establish laws prohibiting FGC.
  • Prosecute parents who force FGC on their minor age children.
  • Make health care workers report all cases of FGC.
  • Classify FGC as child abuse and prosecute it as such.
  • Make the criminal consequences of performing FGC more public.

Even if laws are put into place, though, they will likely do little to stop the practice of FGC. Also, in communities where FGC has a lot of support, prosecuting parents will cause extreme controversy.

Eighteen African countries enacted laws or decrees against FGC. Even countries with the highest rates of FGC have recently openly noted the need for banning this practice. Fines and jail sentences are typically minor, but most view any sanctions against FGC as a good start.

• Research. There is ongoing research into the physical and psychological effects of FGC. A number of advocacy groups hope to bring FGC out into the open to discuss the harmful effects of this procedure. Ongoing research is needed to review the many different kinds of interventions that take place to stop FGC. Since there are many differences among the communities where FGC takes place, what works to stop FGC in one community may not work in another."

http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/female-genital-cutting.cfm#f

Child Consent

Hana: I was curious to see if the United States upheld its standard of letting people decide what happens to their body when it came to medical decisions. According to the American Medical Association Journal of Ethics in their article "Learning to Decide: Involving Children in their Health Care Decisions" they suggest talking with the child. The decision making process usually only involves the doctor and the parents, but now they suggest talking with the pediatric patient as well. The AMA suggests always giving the child full information about the progress of the disease, treatment, and test results. Depending on the age of the child depends on the level of involvement they can get, for example if the child is very young the child should get to decide small things, like where the shot goes. To older, the child's opinion should be considered but is not the final decision. I do not know how long this has been the opinion, but this article is from ten years ago (2003), which makes me believe it is fairly recent. However, having child consent or informing a child is still a trend, opinion, idea, or option circulating the American medical field, which is not present in the practice FGM. This can be seen through one of the first videos where the woman said that if she had known why she was circumcised she would not have done it, or let her daughters get it done. 
Being able to make your own choices is a key theme. But what if someone chooses to go through FGM  because it is part of their culture? 
http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2003/08/pfor3-0308.html

List of Countries that have criminalized FGM

Below is a list of countries that have criminalized or banned the practice of FGM and the year that the ccountry enacted the policy.

African Nations:
Benin (2003)
Burkina Faso (1996)
Central African Republic (1966)
Chad (2003)
Côte d'Ivoire (1998)
Djibouti (1994)
Egypt (2008)
Eritrea (2007)
Ethiopia (2004)
Ghana (1994)
Guinea (1965, 2000)
Kenya (2001)
Mauritania (2005)
Niger (2003)
Senegal (1999)
South Africa (2005)
Tanzania (1998)
Togo (1998)
Nigeria (multiple states, 1999-2002)

Industrialized Nations:
Australia (6 of 8 states, 1994-97)
Belgium (2000)
Canada (1997)
Cyprus (2003)
Denmark (2003)
Italy (2005)
New Zealand (1995)
Norway (1995)
Spain (2003)
Sweden (1982, 1998)
United Kingdom (1985)
United States (Federal law, 1996; 17 of 50 states, 1994-2006)

The penalty of practicing FGM can range from a monetary fee to a life in prison depending on the country.

Criminalizing FGM

“Many governments in Africa and elsewhere have taken steps to eliminate the practice of FGM in their countries. These steps include laws criminalizing FGM, education and outreach programs, and the use of civil remedies and administrative regulations to prevent the practice.

African Nations

 Eighteen countries—Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, and Togo—have enacted laws criminalizing FGM. The penalties range from a minimum of three months to a maximum of life in prison. Several countries also impose monetary fines.

There have been reports of prosecutions or arrests in cases involving FGM in several African countries, including Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.

Industrialized Nations

 Twelve industrialized countries that receive immigrants from countries where FGM is practiced—Australia, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States—have passed laws criminalizing the practice. In Australia, six out of eight states have passed laws against FGM. In the United States, the federal government and 17 states have criminalized the practice.

 

One country—France—has relied on existing criminal legislation to prosecute both practitioners of FGM and parents procuring the service for their daughters.”

However, even though it is illegal, It is estimated that about 100 - 140 million women worldwide have undergone FGM, with an additional three million girls and women undergoing the procedure every year. FGM is prevalent in about 28 African countries and among a few minority groups in Asia. Among the women who have been circumcise about 15% of them have undergone the worst type; infibulation.

 (Source)

http://reproductiverights.org/en/document/female-genital-mutilation-fgm-legal-prohibitions-worldwide

For francophones: "Perspectives Psychosociales Et Cliniques Du Piercing"

Hana: As a follow up to the video I posted, here is an article demonstrating the French perception of why people get body modifications (specifically, piercings and tattoos). It is very rare for a French person to get a piercing on their face, or to dramatically change their appearance; therefore, French people either react with disgust or with awe (gaining a connection, respect, and understanding). One explanation for body modification in adolescence is being a right of passage. This generation has moved farther away from spirituality, and gives them an identity. Along those lines, if someone has suffered a great loss, like becoming an orphan, parents divorcing, and it allows them a way to get what was inside to the outside, to help them move on with their lives. "La motivation principale au piercing semble porter sur la recherche de l’individualité, voire de l’identité personnelle." (The main motivation to get a piercing seems to be the search for individuality or personal identity). They can also be used to as an autobiography. Personally, I can relate, when I was in Israel I met a girl from near where I lived, and when we returned to the States, we got piercings together to commemorate the trip and out friendship. The article finishes with the possibility of people becoming addicted to the feeling they get when they get a tattoo or piercing. I have heard this is true, many of my friends say they were planning their next tattoo right after they got their first. Again, I can also relate, because after I got my second earlobe piercing I wanted to get my cartilage pierced, but I waited for a special occasion (going to Israel). 

This article is very interesting, but how does it relate to FGM? My intent was to show what kind of modifications are legal, and the justifications behind them. From what I am understanding, piercings and tattoos are about self expression, and are voluntary. Where, FGM, is perpetuated by culture (the group), but it is (within the culture) for their girls own good and future prospects. FGM helps a girl fit into her nuclear culture, where over tattooing and piercing isolates them from the larger culture, but gives them a subculture to thrive in. However, the main difference (that I find to be the most important) is the matter of choice. Girls do not have the choice of getting a FGM, where I have the choice of getting a tattoo or not. Now, having this emphasis of choice, is this a Western Ideal? Can I keep this ideal and still consider myself a cultural relativist? For right now, I'm going to say it's a Western Ideal, and by not being able to shake this ideal, I cannot claim to be a cultural relativist, and may have found a limit. 

http://piercingoral.wordpress.com/perspectives-psychosociales-et-cliniques-du-piercing/