Dawn Oetjen, Medical Law & Ethics, Blog 2

Ethic Issue: Full/partial removal of the clitoris in other countries

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is practiced in a number of countries outside the United States. In this seemingly barbaric surgery, full or partial removal of the clitoris is performed. After the surgery, the general population views the young girl as a more beautiful and attractive prospective wife. The justification for surgery is often to prevent either intercourse before marriage or adultery by disabling a female’s ability to have sexual feelings. Despite many people’s belief that FGM is totally associated with radically Islamic groups, the procedure actually began in Africa where it is part of the culture, not a requirement of the religion. It has been estimated that 6,000 girls worldwide are forced into FGM every day.

Although the ideas shared by participants of FGM is hard for outsiders to understand or see as ethical, it should be known that secular ethics, such as this custom, vary from country to country. Even though most American women view this operation as unfair or degrading to females, this opinion is not necessarily shared by communities that partake in this particular custom. It should be understood that, in these people’s eyes, this surgery makes the female body more “god-like” and meets the “ideals of perfection” in their community.

Contrary to these customs, I believe it is unethical to perform such a surgery on a girl who does not wish to participate, but is forced to do so by her community. Now, the dilemma is how to prevent this from happening to a young girl in a poor rural village in a huge country such as Africa where resources are spread thin already. Personally, I cannot think of a logical way to alleviate or solve this problem other than raising awareness of FGM, and also, encouraging the governments of these countries to require sanitary facilities for the elected surgeries to be performed. With a more Western approach, young girls could make an informed decision with a trained doctor without feeling the pressures of their community. This idea, however, leads into an even bigger problem of how an already underfunded government, such as Africa, would go about financing such a service for these tribes who are involved with FGM. It seems to me there is no easy fix for the unfortunate girls who do not want to partake in this ancient custom.