Female Castration: Cultural Tradition or Human Rights Abuse?

Female castration is not a cultural tradition. It is an atrocity. History has long hidden the cruellest cut; excision of the clitoris under the veil of ethnic convention. This torturous mutilation of female genitalia has been preformed on over two hundred million women living in the world today in over thirty countries. Although touted in many of these countries as religious or cultural tradition the origin of this practice is not known, and no religious text specifically mentions female castration as a religious ritual. Rather than cultural tradition it is the tradition of paternal patriarchy which has long silenced women and convinced them that their bodies are not their own. These bogus gifts of chastity and purity should no longer be hidden by the brutal bow of belief. This heinous present needs to be unwrapped and the truth laid bare. For the girls who undergo genital mutilation the gifts are death, lifelong health problems, chronic pain and complications during intercourse and childbirth. Let us examine these gifts in turn.

Gift one – death. It is estimated for one in every five hundred girls this procedure is fatal. Gift two – Lifelong health problems. Women who undergo genital mutilation report incontinence, infection and severe injury to soft labial tissue. There are no reported health benefits. Gift three – chronic pain. The word chronic means persistent, constant, ever present. Now pair those words with agony. This is what millions of women suffer through under the guise of God or nation. Gift four – complications. Repeated surgeries are often needed to allow intercourse or after intercourse and intercourse is often painful and unsatisfying. Complications during childbirth include difficult delivery, excessive bleeding and increased risk of death for both the newborn and the mother.

We whose hands are not tied by the tassels of tyranny allow this travesty of human rights to continue so as not to offend the traditions of Jackbooted thugs permitted to control history once more. Gas chambers remain open for these women and we just watch while they are marched inside. Do the trials of Emmeline Pankhurst, Constance Lytton and Emily Davidson mean nothing? Will these scarred women also have to sacrifice themselves and step in front of the king’s horse just to be heard?

The suffragettes are embedded in our memories. We know their stories, their names, their faces. The girls who undergo castration are the same. They are not statistics. They are human beings. On the Saida website; https://saida.de/en/female-genital-mutilation/personal-stories-by-victims-and-circumcisers; a Sudanese woman tells us how at five years old she was dragged from her bedroom, held down, mouth covered and then cut. She called the pain indescribable. She was then tied to a chair and left to heal, during this period her blood became so toxic her stomach swelled with infection and she almost died. On the same site a young West African man tells the story of his sisters’ mutilation in which she excessively bled through the night and died the following day, and in an interview with Amnesty International Gambian refugee Khadija Gbla speaks about the Post traumatic Stress she suffers as an adult due to circumcision at the age of ten. https://www.amnesty.org.au/5-minutes-with-anti-fgm-campaigner-khadija-gbla/

Now you know their stories. Now you know their names. Now are they real to you? Now will you take action? Would you let this happen to your daughter? Would you let this happen to your sister? Would you let this happen to your mother? Would you let this happen to your wife? Would you fail to protect them?

The arguments for these wicked deeds are baseless. There is no cultural origin as no-one knows the origin. There are no religious records of these procedure therefore it cannot be a traditional ritual. There are no reported health benefits there are only risks. There is only one reason this cruelty is allowed to continue and that is silence. Silence from the women and men who are free. Silence from you and me. I ask that you be silent no longer. I ask that you rise up with me. Rise up and speak out against female castration. Rise up and sign petitions. Rise up and raise placards. Rise up and write to your government. Rise up and stand in support of your sisters. I beseech you brothers and sisters make a noise. Do not allow the guise of cultural sensitivity to sew your lips shut. I beg you do not drop those burning bras until respect for culture and respect for women are one.