Prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how prevalent the practice of female genital mutilation throughout the world is. It questions why it is done, where it is done and what are the human rights and morality implications.

Outline
Introduction
The Literature on Female Genital Mutilation
Where is FGM Practiced?
How is FGM Carried Out in Practice?
What are the Justifications for FGM?
From the Perspective of International Human Rights Issues
522 FGM Cases in South-Western Nigeria
References

From the Paper:

"There are four types of female genital mutilation (FGM), according to an article in the British Journal of Midwifery (Momoh 2004, p. 631): 1) Type 1 is called clitoridectomy, in which the "excision of the clitoral prepuce may also involve the excision of all or part of the clitoris"; 2) Type 2 is the cutting away from the body of the clitoris, but may also involved the excision of "all or part of the tabia minora"; 3) Type 3 is called infibulation, and it involves "excision of part or all of the external genitalia and the stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening"; 4) and Type 4 alludes to all other procedures in which a female's genitals are cut.
How many females have been subjected to FGM - in any of the four types mentioned above? Momoh writes that it worldwide it affects "more than 120 million women" and in addition, "an estimated two million girls are circumcised each year." According to another article in the British Journal of Midwifery (Sihwa and Baron, 2004, p. 717), "an estimated 100-130 million girls and women in the world have undergone FGM," and around 2 million girls are "at risk" annually."

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