Female Genital Mutilation, also known as FGM, is an inhumane, gruesome, and painful practice where girls as young as five get their female genitals partially or completely removed, altered, or injured (UNFPA). 

In many cultures such as in Somalia, this practice is normalized. Girls are pinned down by their “trusted” family members, their legs pulled apart, and the surgical procedure done without any anesthetics or painkillers. In an interview by VICE, a Singaporean FGM survivor explains that the girl’s consent is often not considered in the practice, “The child is an extension of the parent. The parent owns the child and the child’s body.”

“The child is an extension of the parent. The parent owns the child and the child’s body.”

Why FGM is Practiced

The purpose of doing something as cruel as this? It is a symbol of subservience, obedience, and inferiority for women. This misogynistic practice is done to women to ensure they do not have sex before marriage, and also so that she could focus on her husband’s pleasure rather than her own during intercourse. It is deeply-rooted in the belief that women who undergo FGM are ‘pure’ and fitted to find a husband, while those who do not undergo FGM are undesirable, much like the foot-binding practice in Confucianist China. 

Young women who go through FGM would either get their clitoris removed, the labia minora (inner folds of the vulva) removed, the labia majora (the outer folds of skin of vulva), or a combination of many. Some girls’ vaginal openings are sewn and sealed up, leaving only a small hole for marriage and the husband gets to tear it open, an immensely painful process. As a Malaysian FGM Activist puts it, “It is to keep women in their place. It is to silence them when they have a valid question, valid concerns about something.”

“It is to keep women in their place. It is to silence them when they have a valid question, valid concerns about something.”

Extent to which FGM is Being Practiced

Over 200 million women and girls from 30 countries have experienced FGM. FGM is primarily practiced in Africa, the Middle East, and some countries in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. It is a violation of human rights but is still legal in many countries where it is being practiced. 

In Southeast Asia, more than 90 percent of Muslim women in Indonesia and Malaysia have undergone FGM. Singapore, Brunei, Sri Lanka, and Southern Thailand’s muslim populations are no different. In South Thailand’s three Muslim-majority provinces, Yala, Narathiwat, and Pattani, women lack access to quality healthcare and are suffering the consequences of FGM, ranging from difficulties to urinate and menstruate to severe infections. 

How You Can Help

It is not common to hear media talk about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). It is a practice that leaves many female victims afraid and ashamed to ask for help as describing themselves as being mutilated feels equivalent to admitting that something is indeed wrong with them, a burden that should never be placed on them in the first place. 

The action closest to home that everyone can take is to speak up about FGM. To acknowledge it as real and true, that it is happening, whether in your own country, or on the other side of the world. To seek for news, articles, and relevant media coverage that bring these unspoken topics to light. To give to organizations helping these women find help, to be able to afford safe and dignified treatment, whether mental or physical, for their trauma and abusive past. 

The indescribable feeling of betrayal, the pain and terror, the feeling of hopelessness of having no choice but to go through with the procedure, and the feeling of ostracism and isolation that awaits when one decides to walk away from one’s family – no one deserves any of it.

By giving women and girls the space to talk about their issues and experiences openly, FGM can be brought to light.