The health complications of female genital mutilation are both immediate and delayed and are referred to as the "three feminine sorrows": the sorrows on the day of mutilation or circumcision, the wedding night when the opening must be cut and the birth of the baby when the opening must be enlarged." (Fourcroy)
Most Somali women suffer throughout their lives and they abstain from protesting against circumcision because they believe that it is a vital part of their lives and of Somali tradition.
The women that are circumcised from an early age don't go through physical pains only. One of the most horrible parts of the practice of circumcision is that their own families harm them. Across their lives the women are traumatized by the event and they feel that their relatives had deceived them.
Older Somalis believe that the practice is perfectly normal and they see no reason for why it should be stopped. It is usual in Somalia for a father to happily accept his daughter to be mutilated for her own presumed well-being. The general belief is that if the girl is not circumcised when the time comes the whole community would suffer as a result.
Somalis are regarded by the rest of the world as being a peace-loving community, where freedom reigns. Unlike the rest of the world, their people have not changed much across times. Thus, most cultural values and traditions have been kept. However, there are many Somalis that have left their usual traditions for more modern practices. One can often see a Somalis that owns a business or another that is highly literate and teaches at a university. (Mohamed Diriye 2001)
Yet, despite having evolved and adopted more contemporary habits, most Somalis have been firm on keeping the female circumcision tradition. Because female circumcision is prohibited in most countries, the people that want their daughters circumcised need to return to Somalia in order to do so.
Though the act is banned from being performed in most countries, there are some Somalis people that illegally perform it without...
Because of the private nature of the tradition and because the methods can range so greatly, it is difficult to adequately assess the details of female genital cutting in Africa. The history of the tradition goes back thousands of years and is often (incorrectly) associated with religious dictates (von der Osten-Sacken & Uwer, 2007). It has long been associated with Islam, though there has been active opposition from many Islamic
Female Genital Mutilation -- a Review and Analysis How prevalent is the practice of female genital mutilation throughout the world? Why is it done, where is it done, and what are the human rights and morality implications? This paper will examine those questions, and provide information that supplements those issues. The Literature on Female Genital Mutilation There are four types of female genital mutilation (FGM), according to an article in the British Journal
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