A few months ago, in the United States, a judge dropped the charges against two doctors accused of having practiced genital mutilation on young girls, on the pretext that the prohibition of this procedure was unconstitutional.
In the collective imagination, female genital mutilation is a barbaric and backward practice that only takes place in the poorest and most remote parts of the world… And yet. A few months ago, in the United States, a federal judge in Detroit (Michigan) ruled that the ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) was unconstitutional.
“As awful as this practice may be, Congress has overstepped its bounds in legislating to ban FGM. to regulate, not Congress,” he said, quashing charges against two doctors accused of mutilating young girls in Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota. If other charges are still pending against one of the doctors and several of his accomplices, this case has opened the debate on a practice that is still much more widespread than we think, in the West and elsewhere.
Today, at least 200 million women and girls have been victims of genital mutilation or FGM worldwide, inform UNICEF who warns against this dangerous social practice “with dramatic consequences on the mind and health”. Circumcisions “are considered a violation of girls’ rights to health, well-being and autonomy”, it is written.
Mutilations increasingly performed by professionals
Most FGM takes place in African and Middle Eastern countries. They are most often carried out by religious ideology, whether to control the sexuality of the young girl by the removal of her clitoris for example, or to “make her cleaner”. Indeed, some cultures consider the female genitals as dirty and impure. In these regions, FGM is also known to promote fertility, while on the contrary, mutilation can cause infections that can damage the reproductive organs.
Previously, these mutilations were mainly carried out by members of the girl’s family. However, in recent years there has been a an increase in these practices by health professionals in hospitals or clinics. In Sudan and Egypt, 80% of these mutilations are now performed by doctors. Some claim to do so for the good of the patient, their tools being cleaner and safer than those of an amateur. Some are ideologically and religiously convinced of the benefits of this practice while for others, finally, the lure of profit is stronger than anything: it is a simple surgical operation, nothing more.
Today, it is estimated that 5% of mutilated women live in Europe, including 53,000 residing in France. That’s why, in 2005, the government decided to make it a public health issue, becoming the first country to reimburse repair surgery costs.
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