I posted on Female Genital Mutilation in 2005 and would like to share it here again after reading some related articles online lately. Many knows and are familiar about male circumcision, but I believe not many have heard about female circumcision, which is also known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Up to these days, FGM is still practiced in few countries like Africa & Middle East etc.
I had came across a case of Female Genital Mutilation(FGM) for elective Caesarean Section in 2005. That patient is an African lady, from North Africa and the "female circumcision" practised there or FGM is a social custom. Her's is FGM type 3, involving excision of part or all of the external genitalia and stitching/narrowing of the vaginal opening (infibulation), removal of clitoris (clitoridectomy), excision of the labia minora , & cutting of the labia majora which are then stitched together in order to form a cover over the vagina, with a small orifice left (which can only admit in two fingers). (Don't u think this is very inhumane to do such "surgery" on the girls? Sad to know that such event still occur in this modern world).
It was difficult for that African lady to undergo vaginal delivery as there is a high possibility of severe perineal tear. (Well, if she really insisted on going for vaginal delivery, then the attending doctor has to cut off the fused part of the labia for the baby to come out and to restitch it back again after the delivery). She underwent an uneventful Caesarean Section and the baby was delivered safely.
No picture here but if u wanna see how is it like, u can always google on it, and not forgetting many had lost their lives due to FGM complications especially those performed using the traditional unhygienic methods and non sterile instruments in the rural areas (and forget about local anaesthetic nor pain relief during the surgery).
Side note : Malaysiakini is giving free access from 4/3/08 till 10/3/08 without having to log in to read the news and articles. Don't miss this opportunity :)
18 comments:
and the saddest thing about it is they are often done without proper surgical equipments or hygiene. :(
Thanks for sharing Chen! First time I heard about this FGM thing. What's the reason behind it of having this done? Just to make the vagina smaller?
sad that in modern times still got such procedures. :(
No Eye See!! What can I say? On the one hand, you wish to respect the customs of others who do not share your own beliefs, and at the same time, your commonsense tells you it's so wrong!
ehon,
Yeah, the morbidity and mortality rates are high. Many had died from hemorrhagic shock :(
doreen,
Nope, one of the reasons is to reduce the sexual desire and to prevent sexual promiscuity.
misti,
Sad huh? :(
*No more cucumber to munch liao, eat tomatoes instead*
LB,
Something is so wrong out there...
Can we Throw YourStars at them?
Oops, running out of Stars..
Can throw peanuts instead?
woo... i heard of female circumcision before... i hear oledi i oso feel pain pain! ouch ouch...
actually, why they want to do it leh? O.o
What africa and middle-east? I thought that's a standard practice amongst muslim girls? i.e. removal of the clitoris, no?
I read about this before during schooling days. It was very disturbing to know!
On Mkini... that's really useful! Thanks for sharing!!
sad to see that this still happens... :(
I'd only got to know about Malaysia Kini news yesterday! wasted half week liao :(
encounter 2 when i was in putrajajya, 1st baby fresh still birth, mother from sudan insisted to tried svd, ended up emergency LSCS for fetal distress, but baby died.. sad hor.. but the parents accepted it calmly and said its god's will. 2nd from jordan, even told us how to cut- vertical up + episiotomy down, said its common in their country.. gave a short trial, proceeded to LSCS, baby well.. both FGM type 3
PS thanks for t infor on malaysiakini :)
eh, if to reduce sexual desire and to prevent sexual promiscuity, then it's double standards lor, cos male circumcision does not do all that mah.
angeles,
veli veli painful wan..
why ah? Mmmmmm... cos in the male chauvinist society, they wanna reduce the female's sexual desire. And there might be some other reasons which are only known to themselves.
cocka,
No lah, it's not a standard practice amongst muslim girls
narrowband,
Indeed disturbing. It's even more disturbing if u watch the video or the photos.
Enjoy reading the Malaysiakini news and updates, which are not biased (in comparison with the newspapers or local tv channel) :)
butt,
At least it's still not too late to know about the Malaysiakini free access. 3 more days to enjoy the unbiased news :)
jason,
Wow, they even u all how to cut the perineum for delivery? :)
Yeah, do pass the news around regarding the free access for MalaysiaKini so that more people can get to know the real situation :)
misti,
Sad to say that this is indeed a double standard world mah.. there's no equality wan in most places. Hence it's more known as genital mutilation than circumcision and the name "mutilation" tells it all.
It's disgusting... how could human do this... :-(
Anyway, i got a lot of information from the Malaysia Kini on this election...
Let's vote wisely eh! :->
o u c h . . .
that's just... so not right.
tz,
And yet it is still practised in Africa and Middle East. And from one of the comment above, Jason commented he had seen 2 similar cases (one from Sudan and another one from Jordan) in Putrajaya Hosp.
Yeah, enough is enough.
Vote wisely and pray for a change :)
may,
Ouch Ouch Ouch
it's very wrong..
and not forgetting..
tick tock tick tock..
awaiting for the "new" Malaysia :)
I've read a lot about FGM and I think it's so disgusting the way those women are being treated. In some countries FGM forms part of the rituals :\
There's this book "Virgins of paradise". And I read abt FGM the first time in the book.
There was also this model who escaped from Africa but she already went through FGM. Later on she wrote a book about her story and how women were treated in her country.
It's amazing to see that such things still happen in 2008 :(
angele,
Sad huh to read that such ritual still presence in this modern world, in the 21st century. And not forgetting many of these girls die during the rituals cos of uncontrolled bleeding. :(
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