There are many different definitions for self-mutilations, also known as self-injury, self-harm, or self-inflicted violence. One definition of self-mutilation is that is any self-directed, repetitive behavior that causes physical injury. Another definition is that self-mutilation is self-inflicted physical harm severe enough to cause tissue damage done without suicidal intent. This is just one example of the blurriness of the boundaries of self-mutilation. It is very hard to pin point exactly who or
Female Genital Mutilation Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision, is a destructive and invasive procedure involving the removal or alteration of female genital. The procedure is carried out at a variety of ages, ranging from shortly after birth to some time during the first pregnancy, but most commonly occurs between the ages of four and eight. There are three main types of FGC that are practiced: Type I (Sunna circumcision), Type II (Excision), and Type III (Infibulation)
Female Genital Mutilation: Barbaric Custom or Cultural Rite “I was shaking out of my skin with fear. I sat at Netsent’s head so she couldn’t cry out. The circumciser began to cut with a razor blade. She cut everything: the clitoris, the inner and outer labia. There was so much blood!” This is an excerpt from an article that appeared in Marie Claire in April 2003. The speaker is a girl by the name of Genet Girma, an Ethiopian, describing the conditions under which her sister Netsent was forced to
The practice of female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, occurs throughout the world, but it is most common in Africa. Female genital mutilation is a tradition and social custom to keep a young girl pure and a married woman faithful. In Africa it is practiced in the majority of the continent including Kenya, Nigeria, Mali, Upper Volta, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Mozambique and Sudan. It is a cross-cultural and cross-religious ritual, which is performed by Muslims, Coptic Christians
you no you are 90% more likely to have had gone through some form of female genital mutilation. Every day, thousands of girls are targeted for mutilation. Like torture, female genital mutilation (FGM) involves the deliberate infliction of severe pain and suffering. Its effects can be life-threatening. Most survivors have to cope with the physical and mental scars for the rest of their lives. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the partial or complete removal of the external female genitals for cultural
are dim and the voices quiet. Tension fills the room where Nafisa, a six-year-old Sudanese girl lies on a bed in the corner. Her aunt, 25-year-old Zeinab, watches protectively as her niece undergoes the procedure now known as female genital mutilation (FGM), formerly called female circumcision. In this procedure, performed without anaesthesia, a girl's external sexual organs are partially or totally cut away. Zeinab does not approve. For the past year she has been trying to persuade her mother
Imagine a young girl; the harsh African sun is kissing her bronzed skin. The warm golden sand tickles her petite and tattered feet. The immense gold earrings she wears beats against her slender neck. Her stature is of a queen, yet she walks to an uncertain death. She stands in front of a small hut, or a tent. She glances back and sees the majestic sun that had once kissed her neck now set and somewhat leave her abandoned. She exists alone in front of that diminutive hut or tent and out comes a man
Female Genital Mutilation FGM originated in Africa. It was, and remains, a cultural, not a religious practice. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is also known as female circumcision is performed on young women before they reach puberty. There are three types of FGM practiced. One is Sunna circumcision in which the tip of the clitoris and/or its covering (prepuce) are removed, Clitoridectomy where the entire clitoris, the prepuce and adjacent labia are removed, and Infibulation (a.k.a. Pharaonic
Asceticism - The Joy of Fasting, Flagellation and Self-mutilation In order to achieve a spiritual understanding, people have subjected themselves to extreme self denial through fasting, flagellation and self-mutilation (The Columbia Encyclopedia). This practice of self mortification is known as asceticism. Asceticism has been known to exist since the commencement of recorded religion. This zealous religious practice is associated with many religions, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism
Female Genital Mutilation Female Genital Mutilation is believed to have started in Egypt 2,000 years ago and spread from there. Only a few years ago, FGM was considered a cultural tradition, but now the United Nations has labeled it as a violation of human rights. Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the United States has declared Female Genital Mutilation grounds for seeking asylum and is a punishable offense (1). Many of us never heard of Female Genital Mutilation until the story of Kauziya
FGM: Female Genital Mutilation Female genital mutilation has been practiced in country's around the world for thousands of years, and will continue to be practiced, until those that practice it decide to stop. Many people who live in country's that are more industrialized, like the U.S.A., tend to think that no ones believes on right and wrong is correct, except their own. That is what comes up in conversation about FGM. Personally, I am not pro-FGM when it comes to its practice. However, I believe
Female circumcision, better known as Female Genital Mutilation, is an ugly monster finally rearing its head from out of the depths of time. It can attack a girl at any age, with a little prompting from her society, and the aid of an unsuspecting human wielding the knife. Usually, it is performed from a few days after birth to puberty, but in some regions, the torture can be put off until just before marriage or the seventh month of pregnancy (Samad, 52). Women that have gone beyond the primary
For the past decade, France has criminally prosecutes immigrants who’ve had their daughters circumcised, and in October 1996 the U.S. congress outlawed female genital mutilation in the country. Announced, a global campaign in 197 to eradicate the practice, and a growing number of refugee, women’s, and human rights originations in Africa and around the globe have called for its ban. But progress has been rather slow. Western forms of movement have been very counterproductive, with Africans resisting
Cultural Relativism as Applied to Female Genital Mutilation "I remember the blade. How it shone! There was a woman kneeling over me with the knife. I bit her; it was all I could do. Then three women came to hold me down. One of them sat on my chest. I bit her with all my might." These words reflect Banassiri Sylla’s account of her experience undergoing female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation (FGM), at the young age of eight in the Ivory Coast. This disturbing description
thousand years ago, female genital mutilation is a controversial procedure that is regarded by some as a right of passage and an essentiality to one’s culture; however, others have designated female genital mutilation as a practice that violates one’s basic human rights, has no medical benefits, and causes reproductive complications that can be detrimental the livelihood of the mother and child (“Female Genital Mutilation”). In many cultures, Female Genital Mutilation serves as a way to ensure that a
circumcision (FC), which has such negative effects that those who oppose it call it female genital mutilation (FGM). Though not everyone agrees that FGM is the most appropriate term that applies to this tradition, in modern times, audiences worldwide have begun to accept female genital mutilation as a more fitting expression to articulate such horrid violation of human rights. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is the collective name given to the several different traditional practices that involve the
Not a healthy practice to accept as a cultural or religious tradition Female genital mutilation is not a healthy practice we can accept as cultural diversity or respect as a religious tradition. Voluntary or not, the procedure is an act of violence against the female body and it encourages a female dystopian society. Undergoing the procedure is not like when a male receives his rite of passage; where he becomes a man and is more respected. The procedure does not grant women high status nor does
Cultural relativism is when a person’s beliefs should be looked at and understood by others dependent on what that person’s culture is. Female Genital Mutilation or FGM is when the outside female genitalia is cut, or removed, or injured for cultural or other mon-medial reasons. There are four different types of procedures: clitoridectomy, which is the “partial or total removal of the clitoris and/or the prepuce”; excision is the “partial or total removal of the clitoris and labia minora, with or
injuring oneself. There are several kinds of self-harm. Self-mutilation and various eating disorders are among the most common forms of self-destruction. These forms of self-harm often lead to suicide. There are three types of self-mutilation. The rarest and most extreme form is Major self-mutilation. This form usually results in permanent disfigurement, such as castration or limb amputation. Another form is Stereo-typical self-mutilation. This usually consists of head banging, eyeball pressing, and
uncovered about the Mayas. The Mayas were actually rulers of the populous, aggressive city-states. The Mayas built large temples for the glory of the kings and sometimes the queens who ruled cities of tens of thousands. They also had a liking for self-mutilation, warfare, and a prolonged torture of captives. The Mayas had warfare with rival cities frequently. For the most part the Mayas did this to capture aristocrats for torture and sacrifice. If the Mayas sacrificed fewer humans than the Aztecs, against