 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
Sitemap Human Trafficking Signs of Trafficking Theological reflections About Us Contact us Home |
|||
CULTURES:
Control
|
|
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Female genital cutting (FGC), also known as female genital mutilation (FGM), female circumcision or female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), refers to "all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic reasons." The term is almost exclusively used to describe tradition, cultural, and religious procedures where parents must give consent, because of the minor age of the subject, rather than to procedures generally done with self-consent (such as labiaplasty and vaginoplasty). It also generally does not refer to procedures used in gender reassignment surgery, and the genital modification of intersexuals. According to a joint statement by the World Health Organisation, United Nations Children’s Fund and United Nations Population Fund, the use of the word "mutilation" reinforces the idea that this practice is a violation of the human rights of girls and women, and thereby helps promote national and international advocacy towards its abandonment. They state that, at the community level, however, the term can be problematic; and that local languages generally use the less judgmental "cutting" to describe the practice. They also state that parents resent the suggestion that they are "mutilating" their daughters. The group decided that the procedure often involves “transportion … by means of the threat or use … of fraud, of deception … for the removal of organs” and thus comes under the UN definition of human trafficking. The practice is illegal in the UK, and a child can be removed from the home under child protection procedures if it thought there is a risk of her being taken abroad for this purpose. A very thorough paper by the London Safeguarding Children Board including information about health issues and legislation in various parts of the world. FORWARD campaigns for the elimination of FGM and offers support and advice to women affected by, or at risk of, it as well as to health professionals. The website has a wealth of information and resources. Over 2,500 women in Ireland have undergone genital mutilation. Discussion about women’s choice to have labialplasty. An alternative rite of passage by Maasai girls– Cherish Others. A report of a British Medical Journal article reminding us that FGM was a medical procedure in the west in the 19th century, with considerable discussion following the article. Should outsiders be telling African women what initiation practices are acceptable? Discuss the views of African-American who have chosen to have the procedure as part of their discovery of their cultural heritage. Top Muslim clerics spoke out against the practice in 2006.
|
|
