Female Genital Mutilation In Kenya: Local Girls Fight Back Against The Controversial Rite (VIDEO)

Two teenage girls in Kenya have attempted an unprecedented rebellion by refusing one of the most controversial rites of local womanhood: genital mutilation.

As the Guardian is reporting, the procedure has bewildered Westerners, who "find it incomprehensible that a mother would allow her daughter to be so brutally amputated with all the risks of infection, difficult childbirth and deprivation of sexual pleasure."

However, a new Guardian-produced documentary sheds light on the huge emotional conflict the two Kenyan women experience after challenging their families' authority by refusing to undergo the risky procedure. With the girls not considered eligible by prospective husbands until they have been "cut," the risk of family breakdown over the issue is clear.

Watch the Guardian's new clip on female genital mutilation below:

Comments

[ramp613]

03:20 PM on 05/22/2011

Is FGM a hate crime?

It seems that a lot of people believe that FGM is bad because of the intention of those inflicting the harm is to cause sexual repression through diminishing the person's experience of sex.

Does the intent matter a lot? Would it still be a crime even without the intent?

[Anti-Panoptic]

05:40 PM on 04/30/2011

I swear I don't understand the patriarchal hatred of the vaj.

[ramp613]

03:10 PM on 06/12/2011

They seem to hate the foreskin, too.

[MrUniteUs]

10:44 AM on 04/30/2011

I have much admiration for this young lady.
The mutilation needs to stop.

[Southern Yankee]

10:45 AM on 04/22/2011

I bet that father who though his daughter was so special, more than her brothers, abused her.
It's about control. Patriarchy...idiots.

[obelis]

09:19 AM on 04/22/2011

Another one of the horrors of patriarchy...

[Jake Thomas]

11:06 AM on 04/22/2011

Martriarchy, this is a matriarchal practice for the most part. Lets not put everything on men however feminist and perfect that might fit for you.

[Bonnie Beckman]

04:13 PM on 04/22/2011

Matriarchal? Oh, please! Only because it's done on women. The matriarchs don't want it but these women have been reduced to a subservient position in their culture. The women do most of the work within the family and their village. The men seem to care only about their own masculinity and how big a dowry their daughters bring. How would you like it if your penis was cut off so that you wouldn't stray???!?

[Samantha Jane]

12:41 PM on 06/10/2011

Misandry and feminism are not the same thing. Patriarchy is a real societal structure in which males are, by and large, given power over the rights and decisions of women in that society. Exposing and critiquing patriarchy is not attacking men or any one man.

[Carol Gebert]

08:26 AM on 04/22/2011

So great to get a story like this with a happy ending. Thank you.

[Bonnie Beckman]

04:01 PM on 04/22/2011

In the scheme of things, there isn't a happy ending. Those young women who are rebelling against that archaic and terrifying tradition are not representative of the female masses. Unfortunately, we probably will not see a tremendous change in our lifetime. They do not have newspapers, TV, radio or anything close to that. Word of mouth is their only way to spread the word and re-educate. On top of that, they have to deal with the closed-minded masculine mentality -- a combination of greed (the dowry) and their ago.

[Jake Thomas]

05:48 PM on 04/22/2011

So what you are saying is that all men are the same?

[MrUniteUs]

02:12 PM on 04/21/2011

AAP Backs Off Policy Statement on Female Genital Cutting
Part 2

But the AAP appeared to support the watered-down procedure in the now-retired policy statement, drawing largely critical responses.

The organization stated: "The ritual nick suggested by some pediatricians is not physically harmful and is much less extensive than routine newborn male genital cutting. There is reason to believe that offering such a compromise may build trust between hospitals and immigrant communities, save some girls from undergoing disfiguring and life-threatening procedures in their native countries, and play a role in the eventual eradication of female genital cutting. It might be more effective if federal and state laws enabled pediatricians to reach out to families by offering a ritual nick as a possible compromise to avoid greater harm."

In a new statement, AAP president Judith Palfrey, MD, of Harvard Medical School, clarified the academy's position.

"Our intention is not to endorse any form of female genital cutting or mutilation," she said. "We retracted the policy because it is important that the world health community understands the AAP is totally opposed to all forms of female genital cutting, both here in the U.S. and anywhere in the world."

*****************************************************
Good thing enough spoke out against this.

[CandyRaptor]

07:26 PM on 04/21/2011

Thank you for posting this.

[Klaus Nordmeyer]

03:53 PM on 04/22/2011

> The organizati­on stated: "The ritual nick suggested by some pediatrici­ans is not physically harmful and is much less extensive than routine newborn male genital cutting.

So now that the AAP has taken a stand against this kind of "ritual nick", can we assume that it will now adopt a position unequivocally opposing what by its own account is the far more extreme practice of newborn male genital cutting, aka circumcision?

Or am I being way too logical?

[ramp613]

07:37 AM on 05/12/2011

I believe that, eventually, the constitution's requirement for equal rights will win out over our cultural tradition of cutting the most sensitive part of baby boys. It will take time, but yes, that IS the logical outcome.

[MrUniteUs]

02:10 PM on 04/21/2011

AAP Backs Off Policy Statement on Female Genital Cutting
By Todd Neale, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: May 27, 2010

The American Academy of Pediatrics has retracted its policy statement on female genital cutting after sparking controversy by apparently endorsing the illegal practice of "ritual nicks" to forestall more extensive mutilation.

"The AAP does not endorse the practice of offering a 'clitoral nick,'" according to a new statement by the organization's board of directors. "This minimal pinprick is forbidden under federal law, and the AAP does not recommend it to its members."

Last month, the AAP's bioethics committee issued the policy statement to affirm its opposition to and highlight the dangers of ritual cutting or alteration of the genitalia of female infants, children, and adolescents, a practice illegal in the U.S. and several other developed countries. It is still prevalent in some cultures around the world.

"Physicians must decline to perform procedures that cause unnecessary pain or that pose dangers to their patients' well-being," the statement read.

The U.S. has also banned the use of "ritual nicks" as a compromise procedure to avoid more serious damage.

[theaustralian]

08:14 AM on 04/21/2011

circumcision male and female and any other form of genital mutilation is wrong and should not have a place in modern society. The only excuse i can see for circumcision is for medical reasons, like cancer, phimosis, congenital abnormalities.

[Southern Yankee]

10:47 AM on 04/22/2011

Circumcision is not part of this conversation. We're talking about young women who are physically ripped apart for the sole purpose of male control over their lives. Do not keep bringing your dick into this topic. Get your own documentary.

[Bonnie Beckman]

02:34 AM on 04/23/2011

Your comment made me laugh, but you are right. This isn't about anything male, (other than the masculine mentality in those villages). Changing that cultural tradition regarding those young women will take a long time, unfortunately.

[Angie Daniels]

03:03 AM on 04/21/2011

For those who compare this to male circumcision, until you show me a male whose entire penis head has been removed, not a comparision. The foreskin is NOT the equivalent of a clitoris. You either don't know any women, don't respect women's orgasms or think we don't have them. And for you I say F$*& you.
For the fetish community in the US, there are women who remove the clitoral head (which, without anasthesia still sounds a bit wrong lol) whose sensitivity increases, not decreases.

But this is a practice designed to lessen women's desires. I think circumsized men get their fair share of fellatio. And I've never been with a man who didn't enjoy it. Male circumcision is not a comparison at all. And if you're whining about your Jewish parents, take it up with them. I bet you're still cumming with the best of them, while these women are in pain.

[theaustralian]

08:11 AM on 04/21/2011

Maybe not a comparison but equally wrong, you do know circumcision decreases sensitivity.

[LiberalLee]

05:36 PM on 04/21/2011

Performed a before and after comparison have you?
On yourself of course. Taking the word of someone else who may or may not have any reference to an opposite state is pointless.

[Klaus Nordmeyer]

01:00 PM on 04/21/2011

There are many varieties of female genital mutilation (FGM).

One of these, removal of the clitoral hood, is ENTIRELY comparable to male "circumcision". Except for the small detail that doing this to a female infant in the United States will result in serious jail time.

There are other versions of FGM, also illegal in the United States, that are actually LESS destructive than male "circumcision"; for example, symbolically pricking the genitalia to draw a drop of blood.

ALL these barbaric practices should be banned, including male genital mutilation (aka "circumcision").

[Klaus Nordmeyer]

01:31 PM on 04/21/2011

Correction:

Banned for infants and children, that is.

[Bonnie Beckman]

02:24 AM on 04/23/2011

Sorry, but you're a little off in your opinion. A circumcised man still receives sexual pleasure and reaches a climax. A woman who has had genital mutilation cannot reach sexual pleasure that way. If you were more informed, you would remember that it was done to keep a woman from straying and God knows whatever other ignorant reasons.

[deepfreezevideo]

12:40 AM on 04/21/2011

Kenyans:
It's real simple...if you think that any part of the body is dirty, or dangerous, then you are finding fault with the maker. You are insulting GOD, you are blaspheming, you are saying that GOD does not know how to properly make a female in his image. You are saying that GOD makes mistakes, that he includes parts that should have been left out.

[Connor Alexander]

06:24 PM on 04/21/2011

Since it's quite probable that they don't believe in your god, how about we find common ground, like 'consent'? No one should be forced to endure any ritualistic procedure they don't consent to. Since children aren't capable of consent, we can all agree that it can't be done based on moral grounds instead of religious ones.

[Samantha Jane]

12:45 PM on 06/10/2011

man, good thing you're addressing the entirety of the Kenyan population! All those Kenyans I know who don't live in villages on the Savannah could really use a talking to! Thanks, Western dude!

[deepfreezevideo]

12:32 AM on 04/21/2011

With all the lovey dovey talk about the Clinton Global Initiative, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and countless other tax dodges (coz that IS what they are) why is it that NONE of these billionaire philanthropists can't donate a hundred million or so toward educating these Nigerian ignoramuses so that they realize their "tribal ritual" is WRONG?

[sparrow75]

01:04 AM on 04/21/2011

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/GlobalHealth/clinton-global-initiative-offers-simple-solutions-big-impact/story?id=11694977&page=2

You might want to double check your facts.

[capeman2]

10:56 PM on 04/20/2011

Radical Islam, coming soon to a city near you.

[ramp613]

03:25 PM on 05/22/2011

Oh, it doesn't take Islam to cut girls. We have a non-Islamic history of it right here in the USA. FGC was covered by Blue Cross until 1977, and perfectly legal until 1997.

[Bonnie Beckman]

07:54 PM on 04/20/2011

Although I know this ritual has been going on seemingly forever, this film outraged me. Knowing of it and seeing the mentality that goes hand-in-hand with it makes it more vivid. I'm not such Polyanna to believe that female circumcision will change overnight, however, this is a start in the right direction. My heart goes out to these women and their fight for womens' rights and equaliity.

[Southern Yankee]

10:48 AM on 04/22/2011

Aren't these women amazingly strong and brave?

[CintiBlue]

04:51 PM on 04/20/2011

Not a quick vid but so worth watching. A different life sentence trying to change