FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM)

By Kartika goyal & Ria Maheshwari

“When You circumcise a girl child, you affect her womanhood”

- Joseph Osuigwe.

From decades, female genital mutilation remains a significant issue that interferes with women dignity and right.

We at NSS-SVC on 6th February raise our voice for zero tolerance to FGM!!

"The true character of a society is revealed in how it treats its children." This profound wisdom from Nelson Mandela should inspire our efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation and relegate this insidious procedure to the annals of history.

Change is possible but not inevitable. To get change to happen, it should be led by women survivors.

Be a warrior, not a victim.

#Act2EndFGM! #EndFGM

FGM refers to all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons—affects more than 200 million girls and women, between infancy and age 15, in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, where it is concentrated.

In order to fight this phenomenon, the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is celebrated on the 6th of February. The aim of the day, established by the United Nations on the 20th of December 2012 is to encourage governments, civil society, and all involved parties to implement concrete actions and increase awareness campaigns against FGM.

PROTEST;

It takes place in the Middle East, in South-East Asia and among immigrants in Europe.

The global movement to end FGM has been roused by women activists across Africa who have risked death threats to speak out against a practice widely condemned as a serious human rights abuse. The move to end FGM in Africa has over the years gained traction on the continent with state and non-state actors at the international, regional, and national levels coalescing around actions designed to address this harmful practice. These efforts have seen African governments commit to the global goal of ending FGM by 2030 in addition to launching a continental drive aimed at promoting and accelerating the collective abandonment of FGM at the community level through the development and enforcement of comprehensive anti-FGM laws. Laws against female genital mutilation are most common in the African continent. 28 countries in Africa have enacted specific laws or specific legal provisions against female genital mutilation.

CAUSES;

The causes of female genital mutilation include a mix of cultural, religious, and social factors within families and communities.

FGM is often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behavior, linking procedures to premarital virginity and marital fidelity.

FGM is associated with cultural ideals of femininity and modesty, which include the notion that girls are “clean” and "beautiful" after the removal of body parts that are considered "male" or "unclean".

In most societies, FGM is considered a cultural tradition, which is often used as an argument for its continuation.

In some societies, FGM is practiced by new groups when they move into areas where the local population practice FGM.

CONSEQUENCES

The practice can cause;

Severe bleeding

Cysts

Infections

Complications in childbirth

Increased risk of newborn deaths

This procedure has serious socio-economic, physical, emotional, sexual and health consequences, including death.

Together with child marriage, which similarly affects hundreds of millions of girls worldwide, FGM is a practice that must end.

Kartika goyal

1519032

Bsc. Hons chemistry

&

Ria Maheshwari

1119172

Bsc life science