About female genital mutilation (FGM)

Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision or female cutting, is the complete or partial removal of some or all of the external female genitalia using a razor, scissors or knife.
Female genital mutilation is most common in Africa, in eastern, north-eastern and western Africa. Immigrants in Europe are also affected. FGM is also practised in Asia and the Middle East.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 200 million women worldwide have been subjected to FGM.

The main varieties of FGM

○ Clitoridectomy, which is the removal of parts of the clitoris
○ Excision, partial or complete removal of the clitoris and the labia minora with or without circumcision of the labia majora
○ Infibulation: narrowing of the vaginal opening with the formation of a covering seal by cutting and joining the labia minora and/or labia majora.
○ Other – examples include piercing, cutting (introcision), scraping and cauterization of genital tissue, as well as burning out the clitoris.

Note: Most girls have to undergo FGM. Nobody can consent to it as a child!

FGM has no health benefits and can cause serious harm, including

○ Ständige Schmerzen

○ Schmerzen oder Schwierigkeiten beim Geschlechtsverkehr

○ Infektionen, die manchmal zu Unfruchtbarkeit führen.○

○ Exzessive Blutungen

○ Depressionen (werden durch Rückblenden/subjektive Erinnerungen verursacht)

○ Probleme bei Wehen und der Geburt des Kindes

FGM and sexual intercourse

○ FGM can make sexual intercourse difficult or painful, and reduce sexual desire and pleasure during intercourse.

FGM and pregnancy

○ Most women who have undergone FGM have difficulties during childbirth.

FGM and mental health

Most girls who have undergone FGM experience

○ depression
○ anxiety
○ flashbacks
○ trauma

Communities at particular risk of FGM living in Germany come from: Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen..

Why does FGM still take place?

○ Social expectations: FGM is performed before the onset of puberty in girls, and in communities where FGM is practiced on a large scale, it is accompanied by the forced marriage of the child, which means that a girl as young as eight is married.

○ Economic pressure: The “circumciser” is usually very well paid, and when we fight FGM, we always face strong resistance because it threatens to worsen the social status of the “circumciser”. This is because the community believes that FGM helps to cleanse and purify, and strong morals are one of the reasons why families enforce FGM. They also believe that a “clean” “ girl will fetch a larger dowry.

○ Community pressure: In some communities, it is believed that if a girl is not circumcised, she is a curse to the community, she will either be rejected by the family, killed or disinherited, so instead she must be forced to be circumcised.

○ Sexual Suppression: FGM involves the partial or complete removal/elimination of the clitoris, which reduces sexual desire. It is often performed to restrict female sexual desires in order to preserve girlhood virginity. In this way, FGM and the beliefs associated with it reinforce gender inequality.

Religious belief: many communities believe that FGM is rooted in religious belief, which is not true, because there is no evidence in the Bible or the Koran that FGM should be practiced.