Horrific! Mutilation of 125 million girls and women

Feb. 6 was the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation at the United Nations.

In America, we do not think of this as taking place here and, for the most part, it doesn't. UNICEF, however, reports that this cutting and mutilation takes place in 29 countries and involves 125 million girls and women.

The lead country in actual numbers (not percentage) of women who have undergone gentile cutting is Egypt with 27.2 million women. The next countries after Egypt in the total number of women who have undergone this are Ethiopia, Nigeria and Sudan. As far as percentages of women who have undergone female genital mutilation, the lead country is Somalia (98 percent), followed by Guinea (96 percent), Djibouti (93 percent) and Egypt (91 percent).

In my many trips to South Sudan, beginning in 2008 when it was one country, I have seen the legacy of female genital mutilation. Many women do not know the full name of this, so we have often asked the women, "Have you been cut to make you like a Muslim woman?" This is because many women, who were taken as indentured servants or slaves as part of war booty, were cut and mutilated. Most of the time, this was done by a non-sterile razor with absolutely no pain control.

These women had no choice. They were held down and cut. Social acceptance is one of the most cited reasons for continuing this brutal practice. But in the case of Christian women taken as slaves from South to North Sudan, there is no social acceptance because they're always treated as infidels. It is just another form of social humiliation.

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What is most horrific is that, according to UNICEF, in half of the countries where were women are cut, "the majority of girls were cut before age 5," and "in the rest of the countries, most cutting occurs between 5 and 14 years of age." However, for Christian women who were taken as slaves from South Sudan, this cutting took place as adults.

One of the United Nations' concerns is the medicalization of the practice. In other words, some of these countries get trained medical professionals to participate and conduct female genital mutilation. According to UNICEF, "[T]he medicalization is one of the greatest threats to the abandonment of the practice."

On Friday, the press and others who want to stop this practice attended the U.N.'s seminar. One of the speakers was Jaha Dukureh, who was born in Gambia. When Dukureh was a baby, her clitoris and labia were removed and she "was sewn up so that only a small hole remained." Even though she was in an arranged marriage and then "reopened" so that her husband could have sex with her, she said, "I'm not whole. I'm not intact. Something was taken away from me." She runs an nongovernment organization, or NGO, called Safe Hands for Girls, and she is based in Atlanta, Georgia.

Countries have signed onto the international human rights declarations but have not been protecting those rights. Those include the right to be free from gender discrimination, the right to life (what if the operation is performed by a rusty razor blade?) and the right to freedom from violence.

Other rights that are violated by female genital mutilation are the right not to be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment, the rights of the child and the rights of persons with disabilities.

The plan to help these children and women is to ensure there is legislation in every country that practices female genital mutilation to end it. There are other things that can be done and should be done.

The recommendation from the panel and written handouts on Friday included developing a country-by-county "national action plan," raising awareness and involving "stakeholders" such as medical professionals and religious leaders.

It is also important to get other countries that have reduced and eliminated female genital mutilation to tell their stories and be role models for nations that still practice it.

I can't image what it would be like to endure the trauma of female genital mutilation. It is a practice that must be stopped. It is tied to tradition and religion, but we must stop it.

Women must be free to lead productive lives where they are equal partners in all aspects of society.

Media wishing to interview Ellen Ratner, please contact [email protected].