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[Odler]

A tribunal of the Western African republic of Burkina Faso has slapped a six-month jail term on a woman who has excised the clitoris of 36 girls in three days.

In more than 30 countries in Africa and Asia, but mostly in sub-Sahara Africa, the clitoris is believed to exacerbate a woman?s sexual drive leading her to premarital sex, infidelity, and sexual promiscuity. It is no good.

Therefore, in these countries, pre-pubescent girls have their clitoris slashed away by a sharp double-edged knife. After disposal of the clitoris, the labia of the vagina are often mutilated then sewn together leaving only a small aperture for urine and blood of menstruation to flow out.

This practice, old of about 2,000 years, is coined female circumcision par some, and female genital mutilation (FMG) by others. The operation is usually performed serially by a matron. The circumciser would come to the community, and operates on as many as twenty girls in a single day. The same knife would serve for all the girls. Blood and tissue debris would be simply wiped off between two clitoridal excisions. Next, please?

Some girls would hemorrhage; others would develop severe bacterial infections, or contract HIV via the poorly sterilized instrument. Remote sequelae, such as endogenous depression in later life, are also reported.

Despite these complications, it is estimated that up to 90% of Ethiopian women, for example, at a point in time, had undergone the procedure. (What is the percentage today?)

The trend has reversed over the last decade. Female genital mutilation has been denounced by major human right groups and by international organizations. It is now outlawed in the democracies of Western Europe and North America. It is also outlawed in most countries where it is of tradition.

However in the latter, it remains underground, widely tolerated. This is a situation that aggravates the consequences of any complication, since the victim is afraid to seek medical care.

Contrary to male circumcision, a practice with a traditional connection to Judaism, female circumcision is not a religious custom. It is rooted in culture. It is performed in Muslim, Christian, Animistic communities, in countries as diverse as Kenya and Turkey.

Think that every day, 6,000 girls all over the world, have their clitoris excised. It is about one clitoris lost every 15 seconds?.

(OdlerRobert Jeanlouie, Wednesday, May 01, 2002)