Female Genital Mutilation Research Paper

Words: 420
Pages: 2

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Every 10 seconds, somewhere in the world, a little girl is a victim of genital mutilation”.1 This means that over three million girls are at risk of or have been excised each year.1

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is child abuse, a human rights atrocity, and an aggression of power and victimization against females.1 It is illegal in the US.

WHO estimates that approximately 140 million women world-wide live with the consequences and long-term health risks of FGM. The practice of FGM occurs predominantly in Africa, and some Middle Eastern and Asia countries.1 If a girl refuses this practice, it is all but impossible to get married. In some countries, women depend on men almost completely for protection and as providers.1 Female genital mutilation/cutting is a social and religious practice involving partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia to deter female sexual desires and to maintain women's second class status. Though, it is widely seen as a violation of the physical integrity of women, FGM has serious implications for the sexual and reproductive health of girls and women. With a significantly higher risk of childbirth complications,
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The United States considers female genital mutilation to be a serious abuse against human rights and a form of gender based violence and child abuse.2 This constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women and an extreme manifestation of gender inequity and torture. Genital mutilation is virtually always carried out on children and is therefore a violation of the rights and development of the child and of the women. The practice also violates the rights to the highest standards of health, well-being and the freedom of physical and mental violence, and the right of life when the practice results in