Free Essay Example on the FGM Practice in Kenya

Introduction

In my opinion, the practice of female genital mutilation violates women both physically and psychologically. The practice involves cutting out of a woman's clitoris without any medical needs. This op-ed, therefore, targets those women who have undergone the practice or those planning to undergo it. Young women should understand that female genital mutilation harms them and induces complications to them, especially during child birth. Notably, complications during child births contributes majorly to infant mortality as well as morbidity among pregnant women (Female genital mutilation 1).

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Unlike male circumcision, which is proven to have medical upside for men, female genital mutilation has been practiced to inaugurate girls into womanhood. As a result, many girls still drop out of school after undergoing the practice in their traditionally primitive set ups. The beliefs surrounding the practice, that it promotes a woman's virtue, proves rather archaic. In the modern world that we live in, this practice should be banned as it takes the human culture back into the cave-man's era. The practice, having originated from sub-Saharan Africa, spread to other parts of the world, where it was practice for various reasons. In particular, the practice dominated Muslim cultures that aimed at stopping girls from advancing their education and getting into early marriages instead (Hechavarria).

Justification

As mentioned above, FGM has not health benefits, in fact, it poses a risk to health instead. It involves removal of healthy parts of the female genital tissue, which in turn interferes with the natural functionality of the girls' bodies. The traditional exercisers often use knives and blades that they do not sterilize most of the time. In this era when the world concerns itself with reducing epidemics like HIV and AIDS, one prime caution that the world health organization reiterates is to stop sharing cutting objects. Therefore, these unsterilized tools can only act towards increasing the prevalence, and interfere with the girls' health instead. Additionally, the exercisers often don't use anaesthetics during the cut, which proves a health risk; the absence of anaesthetics may lead to profuse bleeding by the victims which may cause diseases like anaemia (Female genital mutilation 2). Further, the non-medical nature of the exercise often lead to infections in the cut areas for the girls.

For the girls who survive safe healing from the mutilation, the world health organization records that the ones who get pregnant often undergo child-birth complications that lead to surgical operations like the caesarean section and postpartum haemorrhage (Serour 146). As a result, most infants to FGM victims often end up dying compared to infants of non-FGM mothers. The report noted that the risk of both neonatal deaths and birth complications increased with the severity of the mutilation that the pregnant woman underwent (Female genital mutilation).

Opposing opinion

Most FGM-practicing communities believe that the practice should not get washed away as it forms the basis of the existence of the community's culture in a society that rapidly gets westernized. The communities fear that their people from would lose their identity by embracing the western culture. In these communities, the practice distinguishes societal classes. Women were acknowledged only after undergoing the mutilation; having passed the stage of being a girl and graduating into womanhood. For these females that underwent the cut, high esteem came to them; their bride price would prove much more compared to that of women who did not undergo the cut. In other communities, the mutilation seemed to be the door-opener for them to achieve respect, get married and have children. In other communities, there were beliefs that uncircumcised girls were promiscuous, with uncontrollable sexual desires (Moranga 48). As a proof that the society held circumcised women to high esteem, men from the FGM-practicing communities proved to have respect and desire for circumcised women than their uncircumcised counterparts. In these communities, FGM was practiced as a matter of social convention. The practice was interlinked with social acceptance, peer influence and the fear of missing out on access to resources and opportunities to secure marriage prospects as a young woman.

Refutations

Despite having stereotypes in these society concerning FGM, the practice proves unwise (Moranga 49). The negative effects that the practice comes with outweighs the benefits it may have. It would prove foolish to undergo a practice that would harm an individual's health, to the extent of dying, simply to receive approval from the society. In the era we live in, practices should not be upheld simply because they socially affect people in the community. Instead, the health elements that come with the practice should form the prime reasons why practices get upheld in societies.

In conclusion, the prime reason why the FGM practice should be banished, therefore, relies on its disadvantages that touch on health directly comparing to non-health benefits. The esteem that circumcised women get from the society would be worthless if they developed complications with their birth canals. Instead, uncircumcised women should feel esteemed for being healthy and able to bear children with ease.

Work Cited

"Female genital mutilation." Understanding and addressing violence against women (1998). WHO. <http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/42042/9241561912_eng.pdf?sequence=1>.

Hechavarria, S., Martin, M., & Bonhoure, I. "Health consequences of female genital mutilation/cutting in the Gambia, evidence into action." Reproductive Health 8 (2011): 1-6. <https://doi.org/10.1186/1742-4755-8-26>.

Moranga, Everline Bosibori. "Factors Influencing The Practice of Female Genital Mutilation in Kenya: A Case Study of Gachuba Division, Nyamira County." A Case Study Report. 2014.

Serour, G. I. "Medicalization of female genital mutilation/cutting." African Journal. Urol. 19 (2013): 145-149. <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afju.2013.02.004>.