Female Genital Mutilation Research Paper
Female Genital Mutilation
The History, The Laws, The Opposition, and the Future
10/23/2013 Jyl
Female Genital Mutilation:
The History, The Laws, The Opposition, and the Future
Female genital mutilation includes “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons” (WHO). The World Health Organization states that 140,000,000 girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of female genital mutilation. The procedure can be carried out on babies as young as two weeks old and on woman in their twenties. The age at which girls are cut can vary widely from country to country, and even within countries. …show more content…
Gynecologists in 19th century Europe and the United States would remove the clitoris for various reasons, including treating masturbation, because they believed that masturbation caused physical and mental disorders (Rodriguez, p323) Isacc Baker Brown was an English gynecologist who believed that the “unnatural irritation of the clitoris caused epilepsy, hysteria and mania”. A paper that was written in 1985 and published in the Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey says that “the last clitoridectomy was performed in the United States in the 1960s to treat hysteria, erotomania and lesbianism” (Cutner, p135)
The practice of female genital mutilation is most common in the western, eastern, and north-eastern region of Africa, in some countries in Asia and the Middle East (WHO). There are currently 27 countries in sub-Saharan and Northeast Africa, and immigrant communities, which still perform female genital mutilation. Countries such as Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan are predominantly Type …show more content…
"Curing Cut or Ritual Mutliation." Chicago Journal 92.2 (2001): n. pag. JSTOR. June 2001. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. .
Lightfoot-Klein, Hanny “Erroneous Belief Systems Underlying Female Genital Mutilation in Sub-Saharan Africa." Template. University of Maryland, 22 May 1994. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. .
Pruthi, Priyanka. "Child Protection from Violence, Exploitation and Abuse." UNICEF. N.p., 22 July 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. .
Reyners, Marcel. "Health Consequences of Female Genital Mutilation." Health Consequences of Female Genital Mutilation 4.4 (2004): 243. Health Consequences of Female Genital Mutilation. Dec. 2004. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. .
Rodriguez, Sarah W. "Project MUSE - Rethinking the History of Female Circumcision and Clitoridectomy: American Medicine and Female Sexuality in the Late Nineteenth Century." Rethinking the History of Femle Circumcision and Clitoridectomy 63.3 (2008): 323-47. Project MUSE - Rethinking the History of Female Circumcision and Clitoridectomy: American Medicine and Female Sexuality in the Late Nineteenth Century. July 2008. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. .
Saner, Emine. "Waris Dirie: 'Female Genital Mutilation Is Pure Violence against Girls'" The Guardian. N.p., 14 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.
The History, The Laws, The Opposition, and the Future
10/23/2013 Jyl
Female Genital Mutilation:
The History, The Laws, The Opposition, and the Future
Female genital mutilation includes “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons” (WHO). The World Health Organization states that 140,000,000 girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of female genital mutilation. The procedure can be carried out on babies as young as two weeks old and on woman in their twenties. The age at which girls are cut can vary widely from country to country, and even within countries. …show more content…
Gynecologists in 19th century Europe and the United States would remove the clitoris for various reasons, including treating masturbation, because they believed that masturbation caused physical and mental disorders (Rodriguez, p323) Isacc Baker Brown was an English gynecologist who believed that the “unnatural irritation of the clitoris caused epilepsy, hysteria and mania”. A paper that was written in 1985 and published in the Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey says that “the last clitoridectomy was performed in the United States in the 1960s to treat hysteria, erotomania and lesbianism” (Cutner, p135)
The practice of female genital mutilation is most common in the western, eastern, and north-eastern region of Africa, in some countries in Asia and the Middle East (WHO). There are currently 27 countries in sub-Saharan and Northeast Africa, and immigrant communities, which still perform female genital mutilation. Countries such as Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan are predominantly Type …show more content…
"Curing Cut or Ritual Mutliation." Chicago Journal 92.2 (2001): n. pag. JSTOR. June 2001. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. .
Lightfoot-Klein, Hanny “Erroneous Belief Systems Underlying Female Genital Mutilation in Sub-Saharan Africa." Template. University of Maryland, 22 May 1994. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. .
Pruthi, Priyanka. "Child Protection from Violence, Exploitation and Abuse." UNICEF. N.p., 22 July 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. .
Reyners, Marcel. "Health Consequences of Female Genital Mutilation." Health Consequences of Female Genital Mutilation 4.4 (2004): 243. Health Consequences of Female Genital Mutilation. Dec. 2004. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. .
Rodriguez, Sarah W. "Project MUSE - Rethinking the History of Female Circumcision and Clitoridectomy: American Medicine and Female Sexuality in the Late Nineteenth Century." Rethinking the History of Femle Circumcision and Clitoridectomy 63.3 (2008): 323-47. Project MUSE - Rethinking the History of Female Circumcision and Clitoridectomy: American Medicine and Female Sexuality in the Late Nineteenth Century. July 2008. Web. 18 Oct. 2013. .
Saner, Emine. "Waris Dirie: 'Female Genital Mutilation Is Pure Violence against Girls'" The Guardian. N.p., 14 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.