FGM in the news as charity reveals widespread practice in UK
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is sometimes referred to as female circumcision although it is far more severe than the male version and should always be referred to as what it is – mutilation. Anti-FGM charity Forward estimates that as many as 6,500 girls in the UK are at risk of FGM every year. The summer holidays are when many mutilations happen as they give the victims time to recover before going back to school in the autumn.
FGM has no health benefits. It involves removing and damaging healthy, normal female genital tissue, and interferes with the natural functions of girls' and women's bodies often with very serious health consequences both short and long-term. It is done to ensure that the girls’ future husbands can guarantee their bride is a virgin and to ensure fidelity. Girls who are not cut can face being outcast from their societies and unable to find a husband. In essence, it is a way of controlling women's bodies and sexuality. It is said to reduce libido, to be a sign of femininity and that women who are unmutilated are 'unclean' – amongst other lies.
None of the major world religions demands mutilation but victims are often told it is a religious requirement. Some religious leaders condemn it, while others either turn a blind eye or endorse it. FGM is practised in both Muslim and Christian communities. There is nothing in the Koran requiring FGM but there are hadeeths about it. For example: 'Circumcision is a commendable act for men (Sunnah) and is an honourable thing for women (Makromah)' and 'Prophet Muhammad is reported to have passed by a woman performing circumcision on a young girl. He instructed the woman by saying: "Cut off only the foreskin (outer fold of skin over the clitoris; the prepuce) but do not cut off deeply (i.e. the clitoris itself), for this is brighter for the face (of the girl) and more favourable with the husband'. While many Islamic scholars and leaders question these hadeeths, for anyone who wants an excuse, they can provide it.