FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM)
“The mutilation of girls and women must stop in this generation, our generation.” Ban Ki-Moon
WHAT IS FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION (FGM)?
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is first and foremost a violation of girls’ and women’s human rights. There is no developmental, religious or health-related justification for the harmful practice.
FGM is practiced in a variety of forms but is defined by WHO as “any procedure that involves partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.”
WHAT ARE THE DANGERS OF FGM?
FGM poses immediate risks to girls’ health including severe pain and bleeding, difficulty in passing urine, infections, and even death due to hemorrhagic or neurogenic shock.
The practice often leaves girls with long-term scars as well: post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, HIV infection, cysts, abscesses, genital ulcers, etc.
Girls who have undergone FGM also face an increased risk of complications affecting their menstrual cycles, sometimes resulting in infertility.
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