In India's Bohra Community, a Battle Over Genital Mutilation

peter.suber's bookmarks 2021-04-03

Summary:

"While male circumcision conducted at infancy is common among followers of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, as well as in other communities around the world for non-religious reasons, FGM is not as widely practiced, except within certain religious sects in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Despite the custom’s seeming obscurity, however, some 200 million women alive today have experienced FGM, according to estimates by Unicef....

However, unlike male circumcision, there are several medical complications that can result from FGM, the WHO states. They include excessive bleeding, swelling of the genital tissue, infection, vaginal and urinary tract problems, and even death. Later on, women may suffer sexual issues and experience complications in childbirth....

In hundreds of interviews with victims conducted by Sahiyo and WeSpeakOut, sexual control is often mentioned as the primary motivation behind FGM. “In our survey, we found that the most common reason that people give is that it controls a girl’s sexual urges and moderates the desire,” Johari says. “It keeps her chaste and prevents her from having affairs. Others cited hygiene and health, but there is no scientific basis for that.” ...

But according to a survey by Sahiyo, about 74 percent of the cutting is performed by traditional cutters outside medical facilities, often in family-run practices handed down from mother to daughter.

“It is not a medical procedure, and ethically, a doctor should not be carrying out such a non-medical procedure,” says Johari, adding that it is also unethical to expect children to give legal consent...."

Link:

https://undark.org/2021/03/10/india-battle-over-female-genital-mutilation/

From feeds:

Consent and coercion » peter.suber's bookmarks

Tags:

children harm consent consent.proxy litigation religion sex surgery

Date tagged:

04/03/2021, 14:58

Date published:

04/03/2021, 10:58