Female Genital Mutilation

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (A Limited Medical Perspective)

ASRI TADDA LEMBAGA KAJIAN PEMBANGUNAN KESEHATAN (LKPK) www.lkpk-indonesia.blogspot.com

What is “Female Genital”? GENITALIA EKSTERNA - Labia Mayora - Labia Minora - Bartholini Gland - Clitoris - Preputium - Payudara*

GENITALIA INTERNA - Introitus Vagina - Servix/Uterus - Ovarium

“Female Genital Mutilation” “Semua prosedur yang dilakukan untuk mengeluarkan sebagian atau keseluruhan, atau bentuk2 perlukaan lain atas organ genital (eksternal) perempuan, baik didasari budaya, agama/kepercayaan atau alasan2 non-terapeutik lainnya.” (WHO, Fact Sheet No 241, June 2000)

Classification  Type

I (Clitoridotomy/hoodectomy/Sunna circumcision) : excision of the prepuce, with or without excision of part or all clitoris  Type II (Clitoridectomy) : excision of the clitoris with partial or total removal of the labia minora  Type III (Infibulation) : excision of part or all of the EG and stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening  Type IV (The other type) : Combination procedure/the other types) Fact : up to 80% (I and II), about 15% (III)

Reasons  Psychosexual

: reduction/elimination of the sensitive tissue of the outer genitalia, particularly the clitoris, to attenuate sexual desire in the female, virginity, increase male sexual pleasure, etc  Sosiological : identification with cultural heritage, initiation of girls into womanhood, social integration, maintenance of social cohesion, gender identity

 Control

of women’s sexuality and reproductive functions : preventing woman from ‘illegitimate’ sex and protecting from unwilling sexual relations  Hygiene and aesthetic : EG of female are considered dirty & unsightly.  Myths : enhancement of fertility and promotion of child survival  Religious : some muslim communities ~ geographical custom, Ethiopian Jewish community (Beta Israel/Falasha)

Testimony “FGM was inherent in the initiation which is itself an essential part of being Kikuyu. Abolition…will destroy the tribal system” (Jomo Kenyatta, the late President of Kenya) “Of course I shall have them circumcised exactly as their parents, grandparents and sisters were circumcised. This is our custom.” (An Egyptian woman, talking about her young daughters)

Other Testimony “We are circumcised and insist on circumcising our daughters so that there is no mixing between male and female….An unsircumcised woman is put to shame by her husband, who calls her ‘you with the clitoris’. People say she is like a man. Her organ would prick the man..” (An Egyptian woman) “Circumcision make woman clean, promotes virginity and chastity and guards young girls from sexual frustration by deadening their sexual appetite” (Mrs Njeri, a defender of FGM in Kenya)

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION  135

million women have undergone FGM  2 million girls a year are at risk of FGM …………6000/day! FGM practised extensively in Africa (more than 28 countries), Middle East, Asia, UAE, UE, USA, and the other nation

HEALTH CONSEQUENCES  Physical  Sexuality

and Reproductive  Psychological

Physical Risk  Death  Anaesthetic

trauma/pain  Bleeding/haemorrhage shock  Infections (urinary, reproductive, HIV)  Damage to the organ, keloids, dermoid cysts  Small benign tumours of the nerve  Stone in the bladder and urethra

Sexual Risk  Dyspareunia  Reduce

women’s enjoyment of sex experiences  Infertility  Obstetric risk (according to WHO recent study, 1st of June 2006) : death to the baby (15% for type I, 32% for type 2, and 55% for type III), 30% caesarean sections and 70 % postpartum haemorrhage for type III

Phsycological Effect  Psycological

illness related to FGM, such as : anxiety, terror, long-term negative effects  Trauma experienced post GM  For the woman undergo GM; Feeling that she is acceptable to her society, having upheld the traditions of her culture and made herself eligible for marriage

Medical Benefit of FGM

FGM could cure woman from “illnesses” such as anxiety, epilepsy, nervous and “excessive masturbation”……. (19th Century England…)

Resume …….today, the argument become a big controversion………

In fact, there is no significant medical benefit to practice Female Genital Mutilation…That is just subjective reasons….

Stop! Female Genital Mutilation

Now! Thank You…

“Tuhan tidak akan merubah nasib suatu kaum hingga kaum itu sendiri yang merubahnya” YAKIN USAHA SAMPAI