Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting (FGC) and female circumcision (FC), is defined by the World Health Organization(WHO)as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
FGM is typically carried out between four years old and puberty, although it may be conducted on younger infants and adults.
It may take place in a hospital, but is usually performed without anaesthesia by a traditional circumciser using a knife, razor or scissors
It is practiced mainly in 28 countries in western, eastern, and north-eastern Africa, particularly Egypt and Ethiopia, and in parts of Asia and the Middle East
The WHO estimates that 140 million women and girls around the world have experienced it, including 101 million in Africa.
The WHO offers four classifications of FGM -
Type I usually refers to removal of the Clitoris and Clitoral hood
Type II is removal of the clitoris and inner labia
Type III involves the removal of all or part of the inner and outer labia and usually the clitoris, and the fusion of the wound; a small hole is left for the passage of urine and menstrual blood, and the wound is opened for intercourse and childbirth and is the most common procedure in Djibouti, Somalia and Sudan, and in parts of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Mali
Type IV refers to miscellaneous procedures such as symbolic piercing of the clitoris or labia, cauterization of the clitoris, and cutting into the vagina to widen it
Around 85 % of women who undergo FGM experience Types I and II.
The health consequences of FGM can include-
recurrent urinary and vaginal infections, chronic pain, infertility, fatal hemorrhaging,epidermoid cysts and complications during childbirth
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