[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/community\/severing-the-practice-of-female-genital-cutting-in-future-generations\/#NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/community\/severing-the-practice-of-female-genital-cutting-in-future-generations\/","headline":"Severing the practice of female genital cutting in future generations","name":"Severing the practice of female genital cutting in future generations","description":"In November last year, End FGC Singapore launched Singapore\u2019s first pilot study on the issue of female genital cutting within the Muslim community. Of the 364 Muslim women surveyed, 76.4 per cent had undergone the procedure. As End FGC Singapore continues to unpack the results of their survey, TheHomeGround Asia delves deeper into the issue […]","datePublished":"2021-06-25","dateModified":"2022-04-16","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/Ming%20En%20Liew\/#Person","name":"Ming En Liew","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/Ming%20En%20Liew\/","identifier":132,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8fe7a89455a989038349633329a6e4ad6299388f5e1e3ea83c28126090b2314f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8fe7a89455a989038349633329a6e4ad6299388f5e1e3ea83c28126090b2314f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TheHomeGround Asia","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","width":640,"height":640}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1624585681591_1280X626_284029.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1624585681591_1280X626_284029.jpg","height":626,"width":1280},"url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/community\/severing-the-practice-of-female-genital-cutting-in-future-generations\/","about":["Community","Health & Wellness","Sex & Gender"],"wordCount":2066,"articleBody":"In November last year, End FGC Singapore launched Singapore\u2019s first pilot study on the issue of female genital cutting within the Muslim community. Of the 364 Muslim women surveyed, 76.4 per cent had undergone the procedure. As End FGC Singapore continues to unpack the results of their survey, TheHomeGround Asia delves deeper into the issue of female genital cutting to understand what it is, why it is practised, and why it is problematic.Diana Rahim, editor of social activism platform Beyond the Hijab, had always thought that undergoing sunat perempuan, otherwise known as female genital cutting (FGC), was a normal affair. She had been cut as a child, so were her siblings. It was only when she was in university that she first learnt what had been done to her was \u201cnot actually normal for a lot of other people.\u201dShe says: \u201cI felt such a disconnect because I have been cut, but for myself and a lot of Muslim girls who have been cut, it has been so normalised in our reality. It takes time for us to register that it\u2019s actually not necessary.\u201dOn the other side of the world in the United States, Mariya Taher shares a similar experience: \u201c[Female genital cutting] was something all women underwent in the Dawoodi Bohra community [a subject of Shia Islam, which Ms Taher is a part of], it wasn\u2019t something that was questioned.\u201d\u00a0In fact, it was celebrated: \u201cAfter I had it done, and after my sister had it done we had small parties to celebrate with other girls our age.\u201d\u00a0Like Ms Diana, Ms Taher only started questioning the practice of FGC when she entered high school, and a friend of hers expressed her displeasure about FGC. This prompted her to further her research, and eventually led to her uniting with a group of four other women to establish Sahiyo, an organisation dedicated to the abolishment of FGC in Asian communities.But what led these women to speak out and take action against FGC? And if the practice is condemned by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a \u201cviolation of the human rights of girls and women\u201d, why does it continue to happen?To understand that, it is first paramount to grasp exactly what FGC constitutes, and the complex social, cultural, and religious reasons that continue to perpetuate this practice.\u00a0The complexities behind female genital cuttingAccording to WHO, FGC (sometimes known as female genital mutilation) comprises \u201call procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons\u201d. The practice of FGC has been classified into four different types based on its physical severity.\u00a0Different types of female genital cutting\/mutilation, as defined by the World Health Organization.Orchid Project, a UK-based NGO that aims to end FGC, estimates that FGC affects over 200 million women and girls worldwide across 96 countries, although only 30 countries report national data on affected populations. In Singapore alone, community-led movement End FGC Singapore estimates that of the 364 women surveyed, 76.4 per cent had undergone FGC Types 1, 2, and 4, or an estimated 173,000 women and girls if extrapolated nationwide.Reasons vary as to why this procedure is performed. Ms Taher explains: \u201cThere have been reasons for health and hygiene… aesthetics, cleanliness, the idea that it looks cleaner, or cleanliness in the idea of religious purity, that it will help clarify the spirit.\u201d\u00a0She adds: \u201cSometimes, I will hear reasonings that women are not supposed to be sexual in Islam, so that\u2019s why it\u2019s done… But overall, it\u2019s a social norm. It\u2019s been justified in all these ways, so it continues generation after generation.\u201d\u00a0Lo Riches, a policy and advocacy officer at Orchid Project, also highlights that oftentimes, FGC acts as an identity marker: \u201cNoncompliance with the norm may bring sanctions, such as ostracisation from the community.\u201d\u00a0Ms Taher provides the example of the Dawoodi Bohra community in the US: \u201cBeing part of the community allows you access to specific burial grounds and the ability to get marriage licenses, so if you\u2019re socially sanctioned against, you might not have access to those.\u201d\u00a0In some communities, female genital cutting is an identity marker to signal your belonging to a particular community. Without which, a woman may be denied access to certain entitlements. (Photo source: Canva)In other communities, FGC is believed to be a necessary rite of passage that ushers in adulthood. An anthropologist speaking to The Atlantic relates the tale of the Rendille people in northern Kenya, Africa, where FGC is not just a norm but a cause for celebration, and a precursor to womanhood.\u00a0\u00a0Beyond health, hygiene, or cultural factors, religious obligation is also a plausible reason, according to WHO.\u00a0\u00a0But, Ms Diana clarifies that FGC is not universally practised across religious communities commonly associated with the practice, such as Muslims, who number some 1.8 billion worldwide. Instead, it is dependent on the school of thought that the communities follow.\u00a0\u201c[FGC] is not an Islamic imperative, is not mentioned in the Qur\u2019an, and is not practised by the majority of Muslims worldwide,\u201d highlights Ms Riches.\u00a0In response to queries from The HomeGround Asia, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore maintains that \u201cany form of procedure which has been medically proven to bring harm, including female genital mutilation, or FGM, should be avoided\u201d, referencing the Islamic legal maxim of \u201cAll forms of harm must be removed” and “Do not inflict injury nor requite one injury with another.”\u00a0In fact, it is widely acknowledged, including in this paper by\u00a0 human rights NGO Amnesty International, that the practice of FGC predates Islam.This amalgamation of factors has resulted in the persistent practice of FGC around the world, even in the presence of research citing negative health consequences. Various religious leaders have also offered a contrarian view of this practice, such as the former Grand Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa and Iraq\u2019s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani.\u00a0Why is female genital cutting a concern?Diana Rahim of Beyond the Hijab believes that female genital cutting is an act of controlling a woman’s body or desire. (Photo source: Canva)Ms Diana insists that the main issue is how FGC is an act of controlling the female body or female desire.\u201cIt is an act that is ideologically motivated, it\u2019s so deterministic,\u201d she says. \u201cIs there no other way that we can talk to girls about questions of sexuality? Is there no other way that we can deal with our own anxieties over the sexuality of young girls?\u201dShe adds: \u201cIt\u2019s also an issue of body autonomy. If a person wants to go through this procedure, they have every right to when they are autonomous beings, when they are adults, but a baby is not given that choice.\u201d\u00a0And a vast majority of girls are cut while they are young, with WHO estimating that most procedures occur before the age of 15. In Singapore, End FGC Singapore\u2019s pilot study reveals that 75 per cent of girls are cut before their first birthday.\u00a0Ms Riches emphasises: \u201cAll forms of FGC violate the rights of women and girls and the practice is a form of gender-based violence.\u201dIn some places, FGC has also become a medicalised practice, carried out by healthcare professionals. According to End FGC Singapore\u2019s study, over 45 per cent of women who have been cut, were cut by a doctor.\u00a0Ms Taher explains that the medicalisation of FGC can further perpetuate the practice of FGC: \u201cWhen it\u2019s medicalised, there\u2019s almost this idea that it is safer, because healthcare providers are doing it.\u201d\u00a0FGC can also be potentially damaging to girls and women, physically and psychologically. According to WHO, FGC has \u201cno medical justification nor health benefits\u201d. On the contrary, it notes that FGC can result in an increased risk of physical, mental, and sexual health complications from childhood to later in life.\u00a0Potential consequences of female genital cutting. (Photo source: Orchid Project)Female rights\u2019 movement Equality Now has compiled stories from survivors of FGC, where they share their experiences and trauma, both physical and mental, after undergoing the procedure. One woman reported that her \u201csexual desire plummeted\u201d and that she felt a \u201cstinging burning sensation on [her] clitoris region\u201d after giving birth to her child; while another reported painful periods and sexual experiences, and frequent urinary tract infections.\u00a0The lack of conversation surrounding female genital cuttingPerceived as a socially accepted norm amongst the communities who practise it, FGC often goes unquestioned. Ms Riches also suggests that the topic is often taboo and not discussed, since it involves a woman\u2019s genitalia and her \u201cmodesty, purity, or control over their sexuality\u201d.\u00a0What this means is that it usually remains a \u201cwoman\u2019s issue\u201d, says Ms Taher: \u201cIt\u2019s quite common to hear that men weren\u2019t aware of this… It\u2019s also something that you were taught to be silent on, and those are dynamics that help with this continuing generation after generation.\u201d\u00a0A culture of silence prevails, she says, and those who broach the topic \u201cmight be admonished\u201d by elders and other women \u201cenforcing this rule\u201d. She adds that there can be \u201cbacklash and negative repercussions.\u201d\u00a0There is also the shame often felt by those who have been cut.\u00a0\u201cThis is true for anybody who has undergone gender-based violence,\u201d Ms Taher remarks. \u201cSometimes, there\u2019s a lot of shame, even though it\u2019s not your fault, and it\u2019s just hard to talk about this happening to you.\u201dA culture of silence prevails when it comes to female genital cutting, due to various factors such as shame, social pressures, and power dynamics. (Photo source: Canva)Some people might also prefer not to deal with the \u201cemotional journey\u201d, says Ms Diana: \u201cYou have to accept that to have been cut was not a good thing, that something has been done to your body.\u201d\u201cThere\u2019s also this fear that it might play into the stereotype of a backward, savage Muslim who\u2019s not keeping up with modern science,\u201d she adds. \u201cSometimes, when people bring it up, it\u2019s done by Islamophobes to say that the religion is backward, that they are not keeping up with the times, and that they do not treat women right.\u201d\u00a0To this, Ms Diana urges the community at large to help where they can: \u201cPush out the Islamophobes who jump on this issue for their own agendas… Support the people who are trying to address this issue, understand the anxieties and concerns, and support their voices. Try not to dominate a conversation and try to understand that it\u2019s not just an issue about a cut, but it\u2019s usually quite an emotional process for those who have been cut.\u201dTowards abolishing female genital cuttingLooking forward, Ms Taher is hopeful for the future: \u201cWe\u2019re seeing more people coming out to speak about this. That fear [of speaking about it] is abating.\u201d\u00a0And Ms Diana hopes that the conversations will continue, even if they are difficult to have: \u201c[FGC] affects the bodies of all Muslims who have a vagina. If your body and life is going to be impacted, then of course, I would think you do have a right to have an opinion on this. If your body, your child’s body is going to be affected, you get to have a right in having this conversation, because it has a direct impact on you.\u201dBeyond conversations, Ms Taher points towards a holistic approach to address the issue, involving sectors such as education, outreach, law, and policy.\u00a0In the same vein, Ms Riches believes that more research needs to be done on these practices in countries where the phenomenon is more opaque. She also calls for \u201cgreater resourcing and investment\u201d to support organisations and activists who are working to end FGC at national and community levels.\u00a0But, she emphasises that even though the wish is for this practice to end, it is still important to maintain support for survivors.\u00a0\u201cWe need to figure out how to provide care and support for all the women who have been impacted by this,\u201d she says. \u201cThinking about how we work with healthcare providers, mental health therapists, and others who survivors might need to seek out.\u201d\u00a0Join the conversations on TheHomeGround Asia’s Facebook and Instagram, and get the latest updates via Telegram."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Community","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/community\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Severing the practice of female genital cutting in future generations","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/community\/severing-the-practice-of-female-genital-cutting-in-future-generations\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]