I follow relativism, and normally would not wish to interfere in the cultural norms of a people (even if their beliefs seemed odd to me), but in this instance, I would want to stop female circumcision. Not because it is disturbing to me, but because it's fear based on ignorance. If a practice is perpetuated simply because the tribe thinks everyone will die without it, then the practice is not essential and fruitful.

Give them a working economy and they'll modernize their culture.

If I was a woman I'd just go around showing these people my clit and how it doesn't spear my brain.

We talked about female circumcision in one of my classes earlier this year... the teacher read part of a memoir from a girl raised in some African tribe who went through her circumcision at the age of five. Just listening to the story made me sick to my stomach.

- The practice is never done by a doctor. It's usually performed by a medicinewoman of sorts, who carries her dirty, rusted, bloody, dull razor blade with her from town to town. The "patient" is given no anesthetic. In the case of the little girl we read about, her mother put a gag in her mouth and tied it behind her head. Then she sat there and watched her daughter nearly die of blood loss. The girl slipped in and out of consciousness for three days.

Actually, I just found a site with some interesting statistics. It says that in Egypt, only 0.3% of these surgeries are done in hospitals. Nearly 80% are done in the home.

Path.org tells us "The highest maternal and infant mortality rates are in FGM-practicing regions. The actual number of girls who die as a result of FGM [female genital mutilation] is not known. However, in areas in the Sudan where antibiotics are not available, it is estimated that one-third of the girls undergoing FGM will die. Conservative estimates suggest that more than one million women in Centrafrican Republic (CAR), Egypt, and Eritrea, the only countries where such data is available, experienced adverse health effects from FGM. One quarter of women in CAR and 1/5 of women in Eritrea reported FGM-related complications. Where medical facilities are ill-equipped, emergencies arising from the practice cannot be treated. Thus, a child who develops uncontrolled bleeding or infection after FGM may die within hours."

It's disgusting, and as much as I value the religious or cultural beliefs of others, this should be outlawed. It's akin to torture, and women suffer life-long effects.

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I upvote because that which repulses me to this degree (and is such a widespread practice) should be exposed. Brave are the women who do this and have stopped.

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