The mutilation, an ancestral practice that affects millions of women – The Observer

The operation brings on serious physical and psychological consequences that persist long-term

90% egyptian women did so out of tradition, but Amel is denied. At age nine, the girl saw death of a friend bled while operating to mutilate their genitals. Although the practice was declared illegal in 2008, there are still at least 200 million they have suffered the partial or total removal of their external genitalia, reported the news portal for The Spanish.

On the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation, Unicef recalled that there are more than three million girls are at risk of being mutilated. Although decreased in some countries, such as Kenya or Liberia, the ancestral practice spreads and persists as a factor of social status in particular societies.

also Read: ran away from home at age 9 to avoid the mutilation

In fact, in parts of Kenya or Nigeria, the operation determines the possibilities of marriage for women.

Female Genital Mutilation

“A girl who has not undergone the incision may not marry” at the time that “a woman who has not been circumcised has no voice in the society and may not belong to the most important groups of women,” said the councilor of the inter-african Committee on Traditional Practices, Adebisi Adebayo.

In these places, the families are ashamed if their daughters refuse to have surgery, so they do “everything possible” to subject them to the surgery. The majority of girls in Africa suffer the removal by the age of five, while in Indonesia, half of the girls of eleven years is now crippled.

Consequences of genital mutilation

The operation brings on serious physical and psychological consequences that extend long-term. The removal can produce bleeding and infections as well as difficulty in urination, during pregnancy and in childbirth. Sexual relations, in addition, tend to be painful, it can cause menstrual problems and severe pain.

In Egypt the mutilation is performed by physicians but at a global level is generally carried out in poor conditions and, even without anesthetic. It is not hygienic and harmful to the girls.

“genital mutilation not only is a great physical and psychological trauma, but also leads to consequences for the health of life and girls are at risk of being exposed to early school leaving and the forced marriage”, stated the director of international cooperation of the NGO Save The Children, David Field, in a statement of the entity.

At the psychological level can lead to depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic, and low self-esteem.

A problem that transcends borders

despite the fact that the majority of the cases occur in Africa, it is estimated that in Europe around 180,000 women and girls are at risk of extirpation, determined to End Female Genital Mutilation European Network.

in Addition, it was found that to the indigenous village of embera in Colombia is an ancestral ritual that symbolizes the passage to adulthood.

Since the launching of the Programme of the United Nations against female genital mutilation in 2008, nearly 18,000 communities in 17 countries reported publicly to renounce this practice, with 2.900 statements of this type only in 2016 and a rate of compliance of the order of 70%.

In line with this, 13 countries have passed laws to combat female genital mutilation. Finally, last year, there were 72 convictions, which in some cases involved medical staff who agreed to perform the interventions.

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