FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

SUBJUGATION OF WOMEN
FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM)

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a traditional cultural practice, but also a form of violence against girls, which affects their lives as adult women. FGM comprises a wide range of procedures: the excision of the prepuce; the partial or total excision of the clitoris (clitoridectomy) and labia; or the stitching and narrowing of the vaginal orifice (infibulation).

Genital mutilation of girl, FGM is carried out with knives, scissors, scalpels, pieces of glass or razor blades. The mutilation is usually done without anesthetics. Instruments are usually not sterile. Mortality is high.
                                 
                                    


The purpose of FGM is to curb the sexual desire of girls and women and preserve their "sexual honor" before marriage. The massive mutilation is irreversible and extremely painful, and is usually done to young girlsPracticed in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Oman, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, amongst
others.

The practice has dreadful costs: many girls die afterwards, the survivors suffer their whole life from the psychological and medical consequences of the operation. All are traumatized and suffer from adverse health effects during marriage and pregnancy.

The number of girls and women who have been subjected to FGM  is estimated at around 137 million worldwide and 2 million girls per year are considered at risk. Most females who have undergone mutilation live in 28 African countries. Globalization and international migration have brought an increased presence of circumcised women in Europe and developed countries. Healthcare specialists need to be made aware and trained in the physical, psychosexual, and cultural aspects and effects of FGM and in the response to the needs of genitally mutilated women. Health education programs targeted at immigrant communities should include information on sexuality, FGM, and reproduction. Moreover, healthcare workers should both discourage women from performing FGM on their daughters and receive information on codes of conduct and existing laws. The aim is the total eradication of All forms of FGM.

Recently, immigrant female patients have come to our clinics for the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (i.e. molluscum contagiosum, viral warts, etc.). Some of these patients showed signs of previous genital mutilation. This prompted us to investigate the phenomenon of female genital mutilation (FGM).
We soon realized that the problemis of interdisciplinary relevance dermatovenereologic, gynecologic, sociologic, psychologic, etc.) and that the dermatologic community should be aware of this. The migration of millions of people from southern areas of the world to affluent countries in search of a better future for themselves and their children has produced cultural and social changes, in addition to remarkable effects from a medical viewpoint. Diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, leprosy, and tropical dermatoses, considered to have been eradicated in industrialized countries, are reappearing.Migrations to northern industrialized countries have exposed the populations to different cultures and habits. Recently, in the European Union, the USA, Canada, and Australia, the phenomenon of FGM has been encountered. The presence of an increasing number of refugees and immigrants from countries in which this procedure is practiced has aroused much interest in this issue. As a result, several countries have passed laws against FGM. In some countries, programs have been started to produce awareness of the issue and to alert health and social services in order to protect girls at risk of FGM.