Type IV is the mildest form and includes any form of other harm done to the genitalia by pricking, piercing, cutting, scraping, or burning. World Health Organization classification of female genital cutting.
type 1 (clitoridectomy) – removing part or all of the clitoris. type 2 (excision) – removing part or all of the clitoris and the inner labia (the lips that surround the vagina), with or without removal of the labia majora (the larger outer lips)
Type III is the most severe type of FGM, known as infibulation, which involves the narrowing of the vaginal orifice with the creation of a seal that is formed by cutting and then stitching the labia minora and/or the labia majora with or without excision of the clitoris.
Type 2: This is the partial or total removal of the clitoral glans and the labia minora (the inner folds of the vulva), with or without removal of the labia majora (the outer folds of skin of the vulva).
Which types are most common? Types I and II are the most common, but there is variation among countries. Type III – infibulation – is experienced by about 10 per cent of all affected women and is most likely to occur in Somalia, northern Sudan and Djibouti.
On the other hand, some circumcised women report having satisfying sexual relations including sexual desire, pleasure and orgasm. Female genital mutilation does not eliminate sexual pleasure totally for every woman who undergoes the procedure, but it does reduce the likely of orgasm.
FGM is practised by the Dawoodi Bohra, a sect of Shia Islam with one million members in India. Known as khatna, khafz, and khafd, the procedure is performed on six- or seven-year-old girls and involves the total or partial removal of the clitoral hood.
FGM is most often carried out on young girls aged between infancy and 15 years old. It is often referred to as 'cutting', 'female circumcision', 'initiation', 'Sunna' and 'infibulation'.
Consultant gynaecologist Geetha Subramanian is one of only a handful of medical professionals in the UK to carry out FGM reversals, known as deinfibulation.
Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as “all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.”1(p.1) These procedures could mean piercing, cutting, removing, or ...
Most Egyptian women are circumcised in the first or second degrees. The practice probably originated in Pharaonic Egypt, in which it was invested with mythological significance. Islamic tradition has reinforced the practice because of the belief that it attenuates sexual desire in women. The legal status is ambiguous.
Other anthropologists believe that FGM was practised among Equatorial African herders to protect young female herders from being raped, or an “an outgrowth of human sacrificial practices, or some early attempt at population control”.
Infibulation, which is the most severe form of FGM, is mostly practiced in the north-eastern region of Africa: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan.
While most prevalent in Africa and the Middle East, FGM is a global problem and is also practiced in Asia and Latin America. Among immigrant populations living in Western Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand, female genital mutilation continues to persist.
The most common form of female genital mutilation (FGM) or female genital cutting (FGC) practiced in Somalia is Type III (commonly referred to as infibulation and in Somalia, the "Pharaonic circumcision"). Eighty percent of all genital procedures for women and girls consist of this form which is the most harmful form.
Almost all women who have undergone FGM experience pain and bleeding as a consequence of the procedure. The event itself is traumatic as girls are held down during the procedure. Risk and complications increase with the type of FGM and are more severe and prevalent with infibulations.
Type I – clitoridectomy, or 'sunna'. The hood of skin that sits over the clitoris (prepuce) is removed. The clitoris may or may not be removed in part or in total. Type II – clitoridectomy, 'sunna' or excision and circumcision.
Imam Abu Hanifa and Imam Malik consider circumcision to be recommended but not obligatory. This means that if done, its doer is rewarded by God, and if not done, there is no punishment or reward. The scholars agree that circumcision entails the removal of all or the majority of the foreskin that covers the glans only.
The available data suggest there are important indirect health benefits of male circumcision for women, in particular a reduced risk of exposure to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
Men under 35 who were circumcised also reported that circumcision not only improved their ability to have sex, but also increased their libido, increasing their desire to have sex.
That said, “studies show that there is no significant change in sensation in adult men who undergo circumcision,” says Dr. Alex Shteynshlyuger, director of urology at New York Urology Specialists.
FGM can cause life-threatening childbirth complications.
Scar tissue may not stretch enough to accommodate a newborn, making delivery even more painful than is usual, and making it more likely that the woman will need a Caesarean section or other emergency interventions.
Why it's done. Circumcision is a religious or cultural ritual for many Jewish and Islamic families, as well as certain aboriginal tribes in Africa and Australia. Circumcision can also be a matter of family tradition, personal hygiene or preventive health care.
Traditionally, the US medical establishment promoted male circumcision as a preventative measure for an array of pathologies including reduced risks of penile cancer, urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases, and even cervical cancer in sexual partners.