Intersex Genital Mutilation – A Western Version of fgm

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 396-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Jones
Keyword(s):  
Social Practice ◽  
Zero Tolerance ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
The West ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
Rights Of The Child ◽  
The World ◽  
Vast Range ◽  
Female Genital

Children around the world are subjected to genital mutilation, which constitutes a serious breach of the rights of the child. When procedures are carried out on girl children in countries such as Africa, the Middle East and the Philippines, the practice is called Female Genital Mutilation or fgm. Although the term fgm involves a vast range of rituals from extremely invasive to quite minor, it is universally decried as an abhorrent social practice for which there should be zero tolerance. Yet intersex children in the West are subjected to equivalent treatment, and their plight has been ignored or endorsed. In the last few years, the practice has begun to be seen as a form of cruel and unusual treatment, possibly constituting torture. Now referred to as Intersex Genital Mutilation or igm, it is argued that this is a cultural practice equivalent to fgm and that advocates of children’s rights should work to prevent the abuse of intersex children.

scholarly journals IS THE TABOO OF FEMALE SEXUALITY THE SOLE REASON FOR THE CONTINUATION OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION IN EGYPT?

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-193
Author(s):  
Tabi Stew
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Desire ◽  
Female Genital Mutilation ◽  
Female Sexuality ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Control Female ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
The World ◽  
And Control ◽  
Female Genital

As the first conviction of FGM in the U.K. proves, female genital mutilation is a ‘harmful cultural practice’ that persists across the world. Egypt has one of the highest rates of FGM in the world. Based on a variety of different studies and questionnaires undertaken in doctors’ surgeries and hospitals across the country, three clear reasons are given for the continuation of the practice. These are the belief that it is decreed by Islam, that it is a tradition and to preserve young women’s chastity as it would reduce their sexual desire. The overarching theme of these justifications is the fear and control of female sexuality, given the teachings of modesty in the Qur’an and the importance of chastity in order to obtain a good marriage in Egyptian society. However, the Qur’an does not condone female genital mutilation or mention it. Additionally, the Qur’an promotes sexual fulfilment and positivity within the confines of marriage for both men and women which directly conflicts with the consequences of FGM. The importance of honour and the preservation of chastity in Egyptian society continues to prevail in modern Egyptian society, and medicalisation legitimises the practice among the educated elite. However, this work hopes to prove that certain interpretations of certain aspects of the Qur’an and the hadith and Sunnah have led to the need to control female sexuality, and these beliefs are intertwined with tradition and result in the continuation of female genital mutilation in Egypt.

scholarly journals Defining Gendered Oppression in U.S. Newspapers: The Strategic Value of “Female Genital Mutilation”

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Wade
Keyword(s):  
Female Genital Mutilation ◽  
Female Genital Cutting ◽  
The West ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
Strategic Value ◽  
Traditional Societies ◽  
Genital Cutting ◽  
Newspaper Text ◽  
Feminist Movements ◽  
Female Genital

According to the logic of the gendered modernity/tradition binary, women in traditional societies are oppressed and women in modern societies liberated. While the binary valorizes modern women, it potentially erases gendered oppression in the West and undermines feminist movements on behalf of Western women. Using U.S. newspaper text, I ask whether female genital cutting (FGC) is used to define women in modern societies as liberated. I find that speakers use FGC to both uphold and challenge the gendered modernity/tradition binary. Speakers use FGC to denigrate non-Western cultures and trivialize the oppressions that U.S. women typically encounter, but also to make feminist arguments on behalf of women everywhere. I argue that in addition to examining how culturally imperialist logics are reproduced, theorists interested in feminist postcolonialism should turn to the distribution of such logics, emphasizing the who, where, when, and how of reinscription of and resistance to such narratives.

Five new species of Rhigonema Cobb, 1898 (Rhigonematida: Rhigonematidae) from the Philippines and Vietnam with observations on the morphology of the Indo-Malayan forms and nematophagy by R. voratum sp. n.

Nematology ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hunt
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Female Genital Tract ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
The West ◽  
Oral Aperture ◽  
Female Tail ◽  
Tail Shape ◽  
First Time ◽  
Nouvelles Espèces ◽  
Female Genital

AbstractFive new species of Rhigonema are described and illustrated from the gut of diplopods collected from the Philippines and Vietnam. R. flabellifer sp. n., R. golovatchi sp. n., R. rigonanae sp. n., R. spiridonovi sp. n. and R. voratum sp. n. are differentiated from one another and the remaining species in the genus by a combination of characters including form of the cephalic extremity, development and extent of the pilose region, female genital tract type, male and female tail shape, spicule form and number and disposition of the copulatory papillae. Two species, both from polydesmid diplopods, bear an unusual pedunculate, flap-like projection on each sector of the triangular oral aperture and have only thirteen copulatory papillae. Such projections have only previously been described from R. lanceacauda, a species from the West Indies that also shares a reduced and similarly arranged complement of thirteen male papillae. The morphology, bionomics and distribution of Rhigonema are discussed and evidence presented for the first time that nematophagy is practised by at least one species in the genus. Rhigonema leonilae (Sanchez-Velazquez, 1979) comb. n. is proposed for Ruizia leonilae Sanchez-Velazquez, 1979. Cinq nouvelles especes de Rhigonema Cobb, 1898 (Rhigonematida: Rhigonematidae) des Philippines et du Vietnam et observations sur la morphologie des formes indo-malaises et la nematophagie chez R. voratum sp. n. - Cinq nouvelles especes de Rhigonema provenant des intestins de diplopodes collectes aux Philippines et au Vietnam sont decrites et illustrees. R. flabellifer sp. n., R. golovatchi sp. n., R. rigonanae sp. n., R. spiridonovi sp. n. et R. voratum sp. n. sont differencies les uns des autres et des autres especes du genre par une combinaison de caracteres incluant la forme de l'extremite cephalique, le developpement et l'etendue de la pilosite, le type de tractus genital femelle, la forme de la queue du male et de la femelle, la forme des spicules et le nombre et la repartition des papilles copulatrices. Deux especes, provenant toutes deux de Diplopodes Polydesmides, portent une projection inhabituelle, pedonculee, en forme de languette, sur chacun des secteurs de l'ouverture buccale triangulaire et comptent seulement treize papilles copulatrices. De telles projections n'ont ete precedemment decrites que chez R.lanceacauda, une espece originaire des Antilles, qui exhibe egalement un cortege reduit de treize papilles chez le male avec la meme repartition. La morphologie, le comportement et la repartition des Rhigonema sont discutes et la preuve est apportee pour la premiere fois que la nematophagie est pratiquee par au moins une espece de ce genre. Rhigonema leonilae (Sanchez-Velazquez, 1979) comb. n. est propose pour Ruizia leonilae Sanchez-Velazquez, 1979.

The Spanish build their empire.

2021 ◽  
pp. 235-246
Author(s):  
James F. Hancock
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
New Spain ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
The West ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The World ◽  
Galleon Trade ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
Mulberry Tree

Abstract The chapter summarizes the Spanish conquests and navigation. It also provides a brief summary of how Ferdinand Magellan found another route to the Pacific and the Moluccas, which led to the signing of Treaty of Tordesillas. This divided any newly discovered lands between Spain and Portugal along a Meridian west of the Cape Verde Islands, but no line of demarcation had been set on the other side of the world. This meant that both countries could lay claim to the Spice Islands, as long as Portugal travelled there from the east and Spain from the west. After Magellan's conquest, the Spanish explore the Pacific, which gave them control over the Pacific countries including the Philippines. The chapter also discusses how the charting of 'Urdaneta's Route' made possible a trans-Pacific galleon trade and the profitable colonization of the Philippines and other Latin American countries. Soon ships were travelling regularly from Manila to New Spain. A complex trade network evolved that was truly global in nature. Into Manila would flow spices from the Moluccas and silk and porcelain from China. These would be shipped across the Pacific by the Spanish to Acapulco, a journey of four to six months. The silver came from Potosí, Bolivia where hundreds of thousands of enslaved Incan lives were sacrificed by the Spanish to extract that silver from the bowels of the earth. The mines became the centre of Spanish wealth and were the reason Spain remained powerful during the colonial period. From 1556 to 1783, they extracted some 45,000 tons of silver from these mines. Aside from these, is the silk production as New Spain had a native mulberry tree called the Morera criolla. The Spanish finished their conquest by 1521 and by 1523, the first silkworm eggs had been exported to Mexico. Finally, the chapter closes how England, by means of American privateers, fought off Portugal and Spain.

scholarly journals Rethinking the Anti-FGM Zero-Tolerance Policy: from Intellectual Concerns to Empirical Challenges

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 266-275
Author(s):  
Sarah O’Neill ◽  
Dina Bader ◽  
Cynthia Kraus ◽  
Isabelle Godin ◽  
Jasmine Abdulcadir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Female Genital Mutilation ◽  
Zero Tolerance ◽  
World Health ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
Tolerance Strategy ◽  
Zero Tolerance Policy ◽  
Genital Cutting ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Female Genital

Abstract Purpose of Review Based on the discussions of a symposium co-organized by the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the University of Lausanne (UNIL) in Brussels in 2019, this paper critically reflects upon the zero-tolerance strategy on “Female Genital Mutilation” (FGM) and its socio-political, legal and moral repercussions. We ask whether the strategy is effective given the empirical challenges highlighted during the symposium, and also whether it is credible. Recent Findings The anti-FGM zero-tolerance policy, first launched in 2003, aims to eliminate all types of “female genital mutilation” worldwide. The FGM definition of the World Health Organization condemns all forms of genital cutting (FGC) on the basis that they are harmful and degrading to women and infringe upon their rights to physical integrity. Yet, the zero-tolerance policy only applies to traditional and customary forms of genital cutting and not to cosmetic alterations of the female genitalia. Recent publications have shown that various popular forms of cosmetic genital surgery remove the same tissue as some forms of “FGM”. In response to the zero-tolerance policy, national laws banning traditional forms of FGC are enforced and increasingly scrutinize the performance of FGC as well as non-invasive rituals that are culturally meaningful to migrants. At the same time, cosmetic procedures such as labiaplasty have become more popular than ever before and are increasingly performed on adolescents. Summary This review shows that the socio-legal and ethical inconsistencies between “FGM” and cosmetic genital modification pose concrete dilemmas for professionals in the field that need to be addressed and researched.

scholarly journals Genital Mutilation of Girls

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 475-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Almroth ◽  
Susan Elmusharaf
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Female Genital Mutilation ◽  
Health Staff ◽  
Limited Effect ◽  
Traditional Practice ◽  
Migration Patterns ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
The World ◽  
Female Genital

Female genital mutilation is a traditional practice affecting girls when their genitals are cut for social, cultural or other non-medical reasons. It is estimated that 3 million girls undergo the procedure every year, mainly in areas in Africa and Asia where it is traditionally practised, but owing to migration patterns, girls living in other parts of the world are also at risk. This article describes the practice of female genital mutilation in a changing world and outlines some aspects in relation to female genital mutilation in girls and women that health staff, teachers, social workers and others should pay attention to. Knowledge regarding complications is important for healthcare, but when complications have been used as arguments against the practice this has had limited effect. Information regarding health risks has to be integrated into culturally sensitive approaches based on human rights and improving the situation for girls and women in order to reach a point where genital mutilation of girls will be generally abandoned.

Legal Impact of Female Genital Mutilation: Special Reference to Penal Laws and Human Rights Perspective in the Criminal Justice System of Sri Lanka

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-237
Author(s):  
Aruni Wijayath
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Female Genital Mutilation ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
World Health ◽  
African Region ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
Female Community ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Female Genital

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a ritual and religious and cultural practice among the Moor, Malay and Dawoodi Bohra ethnic communities in Sri Lanka. The process of FGM is ensconced from the general public in Sri Lanka; therefore, few pieces of research pertaining to the practice of FGM are available. A considerable number of international organizations profess that the percentage of FGM/cutting is zero in Sri Lanka through their reports, although newspaper articles and country reports disclose that FGM actually exists among the Muslim community in Sri Lanka. The knowledge regarding the process of FGM is in the backwater in Sri Lanka, even though a considerable number of feminism activists have created a platform to discuss the bad consequences emerging from this harmful practice. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 30 countries of African Region, selected countries in the Middle East, and countries of Asian Region practice this custom among the female community in some ethnic and religious groups. Through this practice, the female community has not gained any advantage or benefit. The purpose of this research is to explore the municipal laws and human rights regarding FGM in the Sri Lankan context. Furthermore, international conventions which are ratified by Sri Lanka will be analysed in this manner. This research is mainly based on the normative method and retrieved Internet documentary analysis in a qualitative manner.

scholarly journals Understanding the Experiences and Needs of Migrant Women Affected by Female Genital Mutilation Using Maternity Services in Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 1491
Author(s):  
Sabera Turkmani ◽  
Caroline Homer ◽  
Angela Dawson
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Maternity Care ◽  
Female Genital Mutilation ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Maternity Services ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
Female Genital

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a cultural practice defined as the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-therapeutic reasons. Changing patterns of migration in Australia and other high-income countries has meant that maternity care providers and health systems are caring for more pregnant women affected by this practice. The aim of the study was to identify strategies to inform culturally safe and quality woman-centred maternity care for women affected by FGM who have migrated to Australia. An Appreciative Inquiry approach was used to engage women with FGM. We conducted 23 semi-structured interviews and three focus group discussions. There were four themes identified: (1) appreciating the best in their experiences; (2) achieving their dreams; (3) planning together; and (4) acting, modifying, improving and sustaining. Women could articulate their health and cultural needs, but they were not engaged in all aspects of their maternity care or considered active partners. Partnering and involving women in the design and delivery of their maternity care would improve quality care. A conceptual model, underpinned by women’s cultural values and physical, emotional needs, is presented as a framework to guide maternity services.

scholarly journals Female genital mutilation in children presenting to Australian paediatricians

2017 ◽  
Vol 102 (6) ◽  
pp. 509-515 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Zurynski ◽  
Amy Phu ◽  
Premala Sureshkumar ◽  
Sarah Cherian ◽  
Marie Deverell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Female Genital Mutilation ◽  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
Type I ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
Female Genital

ObjectiveThe WHO reports that female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is an ancient cultural practice prevalent in many countries. FGM/C has been reported among women resident in Australia. Our paper provides the first description of FGM/C in Australian children.DesignCross-sectional survey conducted in April–June 2014.SettingPaediatricians and other child health specialists recruited through the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit were asked to report children aged <18 years with FGM/C seen in the last 5 years, and to provide data for demographics, FGM/C type, complications and referral for each case.ParticipantsOf 1311 eligible paediatricians/child health specialists, 1003 (76.5%) responded.ResultsTwenty-three (2.3%) respondents had seen 59 children with FGM/C and provided detailed data for 31. Most (89.7%) were identified during refugee screening and were born in Africa. Three (10.3%) were born in Australia: two had FGM/C in Australia and one in Indonesia. All parents were born overseas, mainly Africa (98.1%). Ten children had WHO FGM/C type I, five type II, five type III and six type IV. Complications in eight children included recurrent genitourinary infections, menstrual, sexual, fertility and psychological problems. Nineteen children (82.6%) were referred to obstetrics/gynaecology: 16 (69.9%) to social work and 13 (56.5%) to child protection.ConclusionsThis study confirms that FGM/C is seen in paediatric clinical practice within Australia. Paediatricians need cultural awareness, education and resources to help them identify children with FGM/C and/or at risk of FGM/C, to enable appropriate referral and counselling of children, families and communities to assist in the prevention of this practice.

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