Female genital mutilation significantly raises infant mortality rates as well as making a woman more prone to have complications when she gives birth, says the World Health Organization (WHO). Infant mortality can be up to 50% higher.
You can read about this study in The Lancet. It is the first study to look at the long-term health consequences of female genital mutilation (FMG) – a procedure the WHO says is a form of torture that should be eradicated, whether or not the person carrying out the procedure is a trained medical professional is no excuse.
Female genital mutilation is also known as female circumcision. It is widely practised in some parts of Africa. The external genital organs are removed, either in total or partly, in order to ?maintain a girl’s honour’.
The researchers studied women from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan.
The report showed that women whose genitals had been mutilated had a 31% higher chance of having to give birth by c-section. A newborn whose mother was mutilated was 66% more likely to need resuscitation. Mutilated mothers have a 55% higher chance of giving birth to either a stillborn baby or a baby that soon dies.
Several countries in Africa have introduced legislation banning the practice of FMG. Unfortunately, enforcement is lax and the law is frequently ignored. FMG is widely practised in 28 countries – the majority within the sub-Saharan region.
FMG is practised by both Christian and Mulsim communities. About 3 million girls are ?operated on’ each year – all of them under ten years’ of age. That’s 6,000 girls a day, 250 per hour, more than one every fifteen seconds. Over 100 million women and girls alive today have undergone this procedure.
What is Female Genital Mutilation?
Either part or all of the girls’ external genitalia is removed.
Infibulation, or phraonic circumcision is the most severe – about 15% of all FMGs are infibulations. In this procedure the clitoris is either completely or partly removed (clitoridectomy), the labia minora is either totally or partly removed (excision) and the labia majora is cut. The cutting of the labia majora leaves a raw surface, which is then stitched over. A small hole is left to allow urine and menstrual blood to escape.
85% of FMGs involve excision and clitoridectomy. The least severe procedure involves removal of the clitoral hood.
The procedure most commonly occurs when the girl is aged 4-8 years. However, it is sometimes done during a woman’s first pregnancy.
The person carrying out the procedure might be a health care professional, a barber or an older woman.
It is not uncommon for the procedure to be carried out without any painkillers – the girl will be held down by other women. The WHO has found cases of broken glass, tin lids, scissors and razor blades used.
After a girl has undergone infibulation, her legs may be bound together for up to 40 days.
This web section of Amnesty International has more information on Female Genital Mutilation
Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today