FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION
Female genital mutilation (FGM), which discriminates against women and causes significant reproductive health problems, is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as encompassing ‘all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genial organs for non-medical reasons’.[1052]
While religion is commonly provided as a basis for FGM, there is little evidence that the practice is a religious obligation.[1053] The practice, believed to have existed for at least 5,000 years, is not mentioned in the Qur’an and it is also practised in Christian communities,[1054] suggesting that its origins may lie elsewhere.
In a 1997 decision, Egypt’s highest court upheld a ban on FGM which rejected an argument that FGM is a religious issue, ruling that the practice is not mandated by the Qur’an.[1055] Despite this, evidence suggests that the practice is more commonly carried out in Muslim societies.[1056]The practice has been legitimised by some religious authorities who refer to the Hadith in which Prophet Muhammad said it is Sunnah ‘if you cut, do not overdo it..., because it brings more radiance to the face, and it is more pleasant for the husband’.[1057] Further, fatwas that stated that khifad (one type of FGM) is Sunnah led to the belief that all types of FGM are Sunnah and thus justified.[1058]
Reasons put forward for FGM include the prevention of promiscuity and the regulation of the moral behaviour of women in society.[1059] Such reasoning reflects the oppression of women in Muslim societies[1060] and perpetuates male control of Islamic women.[1061]
Some of the serious immediate and long-term complications resulting from FGM[1062] include the transmission of HIV and hepatitis B virus. Many girls also die of shock, haemorrhage, sepsis or infection.[1063] In the long term, infertility and complications during pregnancy and childbirth are also common.[1064]
FGM has not been documented in Saudi Arabia or Tunisia;[1065] however, there is widespread medical evidence of the practice amongst Saudi women.[1066]
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