Female Circumcision-the story of Sonali

 In the obstetric ward of a hospital, a tiny bundle of humanity squirms into the world, drew a breath for the first time, and gives out a lusty cry that announces its presence in the universe. Her father holds her soft delicate hand after she was cleaned up and names her Ashima, meaning she who is limitless. It was not her fault that her mother, Sonali, is battling with her life at the emergency unit of the hospital.

Sonali’s problem started many moons ago in a little town called Ambira where it is a custom that every girl must be circumcised because, according to them, it is the antidote for female promiscuity. She was a golden beauty as her name implies. She didn’t have everything she needed in her age but she was too happy to notice.

Her joy was smothered one evening when her mother called her to her room and told her that she was the only one who had not been circumcised among her age mates.

Her mother started singing the issue of circumcision to her ears like a song when she attained 10 but she pleaded with her that she would be ready at 12. Now she is 12 years old but still wished she could escape the pain at least for a year more.

She had heard her friends talked about the excruciating agony they went through when they were circumcised and imagining herself in their shoes alone was liked approaching nightmare territory.

The night before the day for her to be circumcised she couldn’t sleep. She stayed wakeful all night thinking of how to avert the doom that awaits her in the morning but nothing came up.

Her heart somersaulted when her mother rapped at her door the next day after sunrise to inform her that it was time. She went still in her bed like a rod. She was scared.

Her mother took her by the hand and led her to the virtuoso of female genital mutilation.  The sight of instruments like razor blade, a sharp knife, and a liquid ointment in a plastic container already displayed on a mat when she entered the room made her felt like she had entered the belly of a sleeping giant and would soon  be crushed. The woman who didn’t have time for frivolities asked her immediately to remove her underwear and lay on the mat.

The woman first attacked her clitoris and began to cut it out gently with her blade. When she was done with that she moved over to the soft lips surrounding her vagina. Sonali found herself swimming in a great hot lake. 

Her body was on fire. She struggled to free herself but when her efforts turned out like the wriggling of a fish in a net she began begging the woman. She pleaded with her to stop, making her promises she knows she can’t fulfil but the harder she pleaded with her, the harder she attacked her genitalia.

In a few minutes, the procedure was over. Sonali wasn’t herself anymore. She felt like a big hole had been bored in her body under the watchful eyes of her mother and she hated her for that.

Her mother carried her to her room because she couldn’t walk and dropped her off in her bed. She went out and came back with a new yashmak. She gave it to Sonali as a present for successfully undergoing the ritual.

Sonali suddenly felt the taste of bile in her mouth. She was angry with her mother and why she should be given a medal for such a thing confused and irritated her. She collected the yashmak from her and threw it to the other side of the bed. An unreasoning sting and burn of helpless tears hit her and she began to sob.

Her mother, not trying to console her this time gave her an ‘I-have-been-there’ look and left her room without a word.

Six years later, she was pregnant for her husband and when it was time for her to be delivered of her baby she had the worst pain of her life. Because of the narrowness of her vagina it was hard for the baby to come out and when it finally did, her vagina was badly lacerated which resulted to profuse bleeding.

What is female circumcision?

Female circumcision (often called Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)) involves all the procedures done on a woman or a girl child with the sole intent of altering or causing injury to her genital organ.

It is often and always done on adult women or on girls before the commencement of puberty by untrained mid-wives and with the crudest of instruments any one can think of. They often use razor blades, sharp knives, scissors or pieces of broken bottles and with no antiseptic treatment thus exposing the women to myriads of infectious agents.

 

There are no known medical objectives as to why some people indulge in this unwholesome practice but it is believed to be pillared on religious, social, and cultural beliefs.

Types of female circumcision

There are four main types of female circumcision and they all predispose the woman or the girl child to a great deal of health hazards.  They are outline as follows:

1. Clitoridectomy- this is the first type of circumcision and it involves the partial or complete removal of the clitoris. The clitoris is a small erectile part of the female genital organ which is responsible for sexual excitement and orgasm in a woman. 
2. Excision- this is the second type and it involves the removal of part or the entire clitoris and the labia minora (lips that surround the vagina), with or without the removal of the labia majora (larger outer lip surrounding the vagina) 
3. Infibulation- this the third type and it involves the narrowing of the vaginal opening by creating a cover seal. The inner or outer labia are cut and repositioned. This procedure may include (or not) the removal of the clitoris. 
4. Other harmful procedures-there are some harmful procures which are not mentioned above but could cause huge damage to the female genital organ. Some of them include piercing, pricking, cutting, scraping, incision and burning the genital area. 

Consequences of Female Circumcision

There are no medical benefits attached to female circumcision but woes.  Apart from the medical conditions that could result from this practice, it is like a scar the woman or the girl child would have to carry for the rest of her life.

Female circumcision comes with immediate and long term consequences.

Immediate consequences

•   Haemorrhage or profuse bleeding 
• Severe pain
• Problem with passing out urine 
• Shock or trauma 
• Bacterial wound infection e.g. tetanus as well as viral infections like HIV, Hepatitis B and C which may result from an infected instrument. 
•  Damage to nearby organs, such as the bowel and the urethra

Long-term complications

•   Damage to kidney which may lead to kidney failure 
• Damage to the reproductive system which may lead to infertility 
• Painful sex sessions due to the absence of the clitoris 
•   Mental and psychological damage 
• Cysts 
• Abnormal period 
•  Chronic Vaginal and Pelvic infections
• New born deaths 
• Flask backs during pregnancy and childbirth
• Death may sometimes occur

Cure for a mutilated female genitalia

 The only known remedy for a circumcised female genital organ is what is referred to as ‘surgical reversal’ and it involves making a careful incision along the scar tissue that has closed up the entrance to the vagina, so as to expose the underlying vagina. It does not in any way restore the damaged clitoris.

This procedure is recommended for ladies who had been circumcised before they get pregnant, or at least between 12-36 weeks of pregnancy so as to avoid tearing of the vagina during child birth.

This is a devilish treatment to women and innocent children and we all should join hands to make a clean sweep of it. No woman deserves the cruelty

Conclusion

What joy comes with this practice by-the-way? Is it the fact that it subjects women to gut wrenching agony, physical damage, health hazards, social insecurity or the fact that these women could die during or after the treatment? This goes without saying that female circumcision does only harm and no good.