Ritualistic Female Mutilation

Abstract: A 9 page essay on the practice of female genital mutilation considered traditional in many parts of Africa. Though not as prevalent in the cities, the estimated numbers of girls subjected to the ritualistic surgery, normally without the benefit of anaesthesia, is between 90 and 94 percent. When researchers ask why the mutilations are performed, the standard reply is that it is tradition, or (more rarely) that it enhances beauty. Native women are working with villagers to help end the practice, trying to help them see that not only is this surgery unncessary, it is also physically and psychologically damaging for a life time. Bibliography lists 8 sources.

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Subcatagory: Africa

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