Editing Female genital mutilation (section)

==Reasons==
===Support from women===
{{anchor|Pulitzer}}
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|quote=[https://web.archive.org/web/20151007101527/http://www.pulitzer.org/works/1996-Feature-Photography Kenyan FGM ceremony]|qalign=center
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|source= &nbsp;— Stephanie Welsh, Newhouse News Service<ref>{{cite web |title=Stephanie Welsh. The 1996 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Feature Photography |url=http://www.pulitzer.org/works/1996-Feature-Photography |publisher=The Pulitzer Prizes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007101527/http://www.pulitzer.org/works/1996-Feature-Photography |archive-date=7 October 2015 |date=1996|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
Dahabo Musa, a Somali woman, described infibulation in a 1988 poem as the "three feminine sorrows": the procedure itself, the wedding night when the woman is cut open, then childbirth when she is cut again.{{sfn|Abdalla|2007|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8VQxt634pfcC&pg=PA187 187]}} Despite the evident suffering, it is women who organize all forms of FGM.{{sfn|El Guindi|2007|loc=35, 42, 46}}{{efn|[[Gerry Mackie]] (1996): "Virtually every ethnography and report states that FGM is defended and transmitted by the women."{{sfn|Mackie|1996|loc=1003}}{{pb}}
[[Fadwa El Guindi]] (2007): "Female circumcision belongs to the women's world, and ordinarily men know little about it or how it is performed—a fact that is widely confirmed in ethnographic studies."{{sfn|El Guindi|2007|loc=35}}{{pb}}
Bettina Shell-Duncan (2008): "[T]he fact that the decision to perform FGC is often firmly in the control of women weakens the claim of gender discrimination."{{sfn|Shell-Duncan|2008|loc=228}}{{pb}}
Bettina Shell-Duncan (2015): "[W]hen you talk to people on the ground, you also hear people talking about the idea that it's women's business. As in, it's for women to decide this. If we look at the data across Africa, the support for the practice is stronger among women than among men."{{sfn|Khazan|2015}}}} Anthropologist [[Rose Oldfield Hayes]] wrote in 1975 that educated Sudanese men who did not want their daughters to be infibulated (preferring clitoridectomy) would find the girls had been sewn up after the grandmothers arranged a visit to relatives.{{sfn|Hayes|1975|loc=620, 624}} [[Gerry Mackie]] has compared the practice to [[footbinding]]. Like FGM, footbinding was carried out on young girls, nearly universal where practised, tied to ideas about honour, chastity, and appropriate marriage, and "supported and transmitted" by women.{{efn|[[Gerry Mackie]], 1996: "Footbinding and infibulation correspond as follows. Both customs are nearly universal where practised; they are persistent and are practised even by those who oppose them. Both control sexual access to females and ensure female chastity and fidelity. Both are necessary for proper marriage and family honor. Both are believed to be sanctioned by tradition. Both are said to be ethnic markers, and distinct ethnic minorities may lack the practices. Both seem to have a past of contagious diffusion. Both are exaggerated over time and both increase with status. Both are supported and transmitted by women, are performed on girls about six to eight years old, and are generally not initiation rites. Both are believed to promote health and fertility. Both are defined as aesthetically pleasing compared with the natural alternative. Both are said to properly exaggerate the complementarity of the sexes, and both are claimed to make intercourse more pleasurable for the male."{{sfn|Mackie|1996|loc=999–1000}}}}

[[File:Fuambai Sia Ahmadu (1).jpg|left|thumb|upright|alt=photograph|[[Fuambai Ahmadu]] chose to undergo clitoridectomy as an adult.<ref name=Ahmadu2000/>]]
FGM practitioners see the procedures as marking not only ethnic boundaries but also gender differences. According to this view, male circumcision defeminizes men while FGM demasculinizes women.<ref>{{harvnb|Abusharaf|2007|loc=8}}; {{harvnb|El Guindi|2007|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=8VQxt634pfcC&pg=PA36 36–37]}}.</ref> [[Fuambai Ahmadu]], an anthropologist and member of the [[Kono people]] of [[Sierra Leone]], who in 1992 underwent clitoridectomy as an adult during a [[Sande society]] initiation, argued in 2000 that it is a male-centred assumption that the clitoris is important to female sexuality. African female symbolism revolves instead around the concept of the womb.<ref name="Ahmadu2000">{{harvnb|Ahmadu|2000|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=rhhRXiJIGEcC&pg=PA284 284–285]}}.</ref> Infibulation draws on that idea of enclosure and fertility. "[G]enital cutting completes the social definition of a child's sex by eliminating external traces of androgyny," [[Janice Boddy]] wrote in 2007. "The female body is then covered, closed, and its productive blood bound within; the male body is unveiled, opened, and exposed."<ref>{{harvnb|Boddy|2007|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=T77ui7IPNwkC&pg=PA112 112]}}; also see {{harvnb|Boddy|1989|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=TK6NIp5uVwsC&pg=PA52 52–61]}}.</ref>

In communities where infibulation is common, there is a preference for women's genitals to be smooth, dry and without odour, and both women and men may find the natural vulva repulsive.{{sfn|Gruenbaum|2005|loc=435–436}} Some men seem to enjoy the effort of penetrating an infibulation.<ref>{{harvnb|Gruenbaum|2005|loc=437}}; {{harvnb|Gruenbaum|2001|loc=140}}.</ref> The local preference for [[dry sex]] causes women to introduce substances into the vagina to reduce lubrication, including leaves, tree bark, toothpaste and [[Vicks VapoRub|Vicks menthol rub]].{{sfn|Bagnol|Mariano|2011|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=xSqIrrswbG0C&pg=PA277 277–281]}} The WHO includes this practice within Type IV FGM, because the added friction during intercourse can cause lacerations and increase the risk of infection.<ref>[[#WHO2008|WHO 2008]], 27–28.</ref> Because of the smooth appearance of an infibulated vulva, there is also a belief that infibulation increases hygiene.{{sfn|Gruenbaum|2005|loc=437}}

Common reasons for FGM cited by women in surveys are social acceptance, religion, hygiene, preservation of virginity, marriageability and enhancement of male sexual pleasure.<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 67.</ref> In a study in northern Sudan, published in 1983, only 17.4 percent of women opposed FGM (558 out of 3,210), and most preferred excision and infibulation over clitoridectomy.{{sfn|El Dareer|1983|loc=140}} Attitudes are changing slowly. In Sudan in 2010, 42 percent of women who had heard of FGM said the practice should continue.<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 178.</ref> In several surveys since 2006, over 50 percent of women in Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the Gambia, and Egypt supported FGM's continuance, while elsewhere in Africa, Iraq, and Yemen most said it should end, although in several countries only by a narrow margin.<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 52. Also see figure 6.1, 54, and figures 8.1A&nbsp;– 8.1D, 90–91.</ref>

===Social obligation, poor access to information===
[[File:Keur Simbara, Senegal (8592417042), cropped.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=photograph|Keur Simbara, Senegal, abandoned FGM in 1998 after a three-year program by [[Tostan]].<ref>Gueye, Malick (4 February 2014). [http://www.tostan.org/blog/social-norm-change-theorists-meet-again-keur-simbara-senegal "Social Norm Change Theorists meet again in Keur Simbara, Senegal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311194456/http://www.tostan.org/blog/social-norm-change-theorists-meet-again-keur-simbara-senegal |date=11 March 2017 }}, Tostan.</ref>]]

Against the argument that women willingly choose FGM for their daughters, UNICEF calls the practice a "self-enforcing [[social convention]]" to which families feel they must conform to avoid uncut daughters facing social exclusion.<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 15.</ref> [[Ellen Gruenbaum]] reported that, in Sudan in the 1970s, cut girls from an Arab ethnic group would mock uncut [[Zarma people|Zabarma]] girls with ''Ya, ghalfa!'' ("Hey, unclean!"). The Zabarma girls would respond ''Ya, mutmura!'' (A ''mutmura'' was a storage pit for grain that was continually opened and closed, like an infibulated woman.) But despite throwing the insult back, the Zabarma girls would ask their mothers, "What's the matter? Don't we have razor blades like the Arabs?"{{sfn|Gruenbaum|2005|loc=432–433}}

Because of poor access to information, and because practitioners downplay the causal connection, women may not associate the health consequences with the procedure. Lala Baldé, president of a women's association in Medina Cherif, a village in Senegal, told Mackie in 1998 that when girls fell ill or died, it was attributed to evil spirits. When informed of the causal relationship between FGM and ill health, Mackie wrote, the women broke down and wept. He argued that surveys taken before and after this sharing of information would show very different levels of support for FGM.{{sfn|Mackie|2003|loc=147–148}} The American non-profit group [[Tostan]], founded by [[Molly Melching]] in 1991, introduced community-empowerment programs in several countries that focus on local democracy, literacy, and education about healthcare, giving women the tools to make their own decisions.<ref>[[#Diop2008|Diop et al. (UNICEF) 2008]].</ref> In 1997, using the Tostan program, [[Malicounda Bambara]] in Senegal became the first village to abandon FGM.{{sfn|Mackie|2000|loc=256ff}} By August 2019, 8,800 communities in eight countries had pledged to abandon FGM and [[child marriage]].{{efn|The eight countries are Djibouti, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Somalia, and the Gambia.<ref>{{cite web |title=Female Genital Cutting |date=February 2017 |url=https://www.tostan.org/areas-of-impact/cross-cutting-gender-social-norms/female-genital-cutting/ |publisher=Tostan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190826031944/https://www.tostan.org/areas-of-impact/cross-cutting-gender-social-norms/female-genital-cutting/ |archive-date=26 August 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

===Religion===
{{Further|Religious views on female genital mutilation|Khitan (circumcision)#Comparisons with female circumcision}}
Surveys have shown a widespread belief, particularly in Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, and Egypt, that FGM is a religious requirement.<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 69–71.</ref> Gruenbaum has argued that practitioners may not distinguish between religion, tradition, and chastity, making it difficult to interpret the data.<ref>{{harvnb|Gruenbaum|2001|loc=[https://archive.org/details/femalecircumcisi0000grue/page/50 50]}}; [[#MackieLeJeune2008|Mackie and LeJeune (UNICEF) 2008]], 8–9.</ref> FGM's origins in northeastern Africa are pre-Islamic, but the practice became associated with Islam because of that religion's focus on female chastity and seclusion.{{efn|[[Gerry Mackie]], 1996: "FGM is pre-Islamic but was exaggerated by its intersection with the Islamic modesty code of family honor, female purity, virginity, chastity, fidelity, and seclusion."{{sfn|Mackie|1996|loc=1008}}}} According to a 2013 UNICEF report, in 18 African countries at least 10 percent of Muslim females had experienced FGM, and in 13 of those countries, the figure rose to 50–99 percent.<ref name="auto">[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 175.</ref>

In 2007 the [[Al-Azhar University#Council of Senior Scholars|Al-Azhar Supreme Council of Islamic Research]] in Cairo ruled that FGM had "no basis in core Islamic law or any of its partial provisions".<ref>[[#UNICEFpress2July2007|UNICEF press release]], 2 July 2007; [[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], 70.</ref>{{efn|Maggie Michael, Associated Press, 2007: "[Egypt's] supreme religious authorities stressed that Islam is against female circumcision. It's prohibited, prohibited, prohibited," Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa said on the privately-owned al-Mahwar network."<ref>Michael, Maggie (29 June 2007). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/29/AR2007062901284.html "Egypt Officials Ban Female Circumcision"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920162546/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/29/AR2007062901284.html |date=20 September 2017 }}, Associated Press, 2.</ref>}} There is no mention of the practice in the [[Quran]].{{sfn|Mackie|1996|loc=1004–1005}} It is praised in a few [[Hadith terminology|''daʻīf'']] (weak) ''[[hadith]]'' (sayings attributed to Muhammad) as noble but not required.<ref>{{harvnb|Roald|2003|loc=224}}; {{harvnb|Asmani|Abdi|2008|loc=6–13}}.</ref>{{efn|[[Gerry Mackie]], 1996: "The Koran is silent on FGM, but several ''hadith'' (sayings attributed to Mohammed) recommend attenuating the practice for the woman's sake, praise it as noble but not commanded, or advise that female converts refrain from mutilation because even if pleasing to the husband it is painful to the wife."{{sfn|Mackie|1996|loc=1004–1005}}}} Islamic scholars [[Abu Dawood|Abū Dāwūd]] and [[Ahmad ibn Hanbal|Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal]] reported that Muhammad said circumcision was a "law for men and a preservation of honor for women";{{sfn|Wensinck|2012}} some regard this [[Hadith]] as [[Hadith terminology|''daʻīf'']] (weak).<ref>{{cite book |title=Say No to Female Genital Mutilation |date=March 2016 |url=https://www.mwnhelpline.co.uk//go_files/issue/968436-MWNU%20FGM%20leaflet_WEB..pdf |publisher=Muslim Women's Network UK |page=11 |access-date=12 April 2025 |quote=This narration is regarded as weak...}}</ref> FGM is regarded as an obligatory practice by the [[Shafi'i]] version of [[Sunni Islam]].{{sfn|Roald|2003|loc=243}} [[Female genital mutilation in India|FGM in India]] is prevalent among the [[Shia Islam]] members of the [[Dawoodi Bohra#Female circumcision|Bohra]] Muslim community who practice it as a religious custom.<ref name="fgmindia">{{Cite journal |last1=Nanda |first1=Anjani |last2=Ramani |first2=Vandanee |date=2022-05-31 |title=The Prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation in India |journal=Journal of Student Research |volume=11 |issue=2 |doi=10.47611/jsrhs.v11i2.3285 |issn=2167-1907|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="bohra">{{Cite news |last=Cantera |first=Angel L. Martínez |date=2018-03-06 |title='I was crying with unbearable pain': study reveals extent of FGM in India |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/06/study-reveals-fgm-india-female-genital-mutilation |access-date=2023-12-01 |issn=0261-3077 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208053233/https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/06/study-reveals-fgm-india-female-genital-mutilation |archive-date=2023-12-08}}</ref>

There is no mention of FGM in the Bible.{{efn|Samuel Waje Kunhiyop, 2008: "Nowhere in all of Scripture or in any of recorded church history is there even a hint that women were to be circumcised."{{sfn|Kunhiyop|2008|loc=297}}}} The [[Skoptsy|Skoptsy Christian]] sect in Europe practiced FGM as part of redemption from [[Christian views on sin|sin]] and to remain chaste.{{sfn|Engelstein|1997}}
Christian missionaries in Africa were [[#Colonial opposition in Kenya|among the first]] to object to FGM,{{sfn|Murray|1976}} but Christian communities in Africa do practise it. In 2013 UNICEF identified 19 African countries in which at least 10 percent of Christian females aged 15 to 49 had undergone FGM;{{efn|The countries were Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Tanzania.<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], p.&nbsp;73, figure 6.13.</ref>}} in Niger, 55 percent of Christian women and girls had experienced it, compared with two percent of their Muslim counterparts.<ref>[[#UNICEF2013|UNICEF 2013]], cover page and p.&nbsp;175.</ref> The only Jewish group known to have practised it is the [[Beta Israel]] of Ethiopia. Judaism requires male circumcision but does not allow FGM.<ref>{{harvnb|Cohen|2005|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=PmL-LogqJ-YC&pg=PA59 59]}}; {{harvnb|Berlin|2011|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hKAaJXvUaUoC&pg=PA173 173]}}.</ref> FGM is also practised by [[Animism|animist]] groups, particularly in Guinea and Mali.<ref name="auto"/>
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