For most American girls, the idea of a "coming of age" ceremony involves cake and maybe some sort of religious ceremony, but not the mutilation of their genitals.
A panel discussion held last Friday shed light on the topic of female genital cutting and ways different organizations are working to stop the problem, such as bringing educators to Africa to talk with tribal leaders.
The International Development Program Student Association hosted the event with Society for Peace and Women's Peace Initiative. Twenty-eight countries still allow FGC, and the practice has been performed on over 130 million women and girls.
Susan Igras, a senior program advisor for Sexual and Reproductive Health at CARE-USA, talked about programs CARE initiated and is continuing to fund. CARE works in over 70 countries, particularly in Africa. The biggest reason why many girls do not want to forgo cutting is because they felt if they were not cut they would be worth nothing, according to Igras.
"Many believe that to be a good Muslim, you have to be circumcised," Igras said.
Igras also discussed the physical and psychological problems associated with FGC. Not only does it permanently handicap the genital area of a woman, it also can lead to other types of infections, she said. Normally, the procedure is not performed with a sterile knife, and AIDS can be spread quickly throughout villages.
According to Igras, CARE's programs worked best in Ethiopia but had little effect in Kenya.
"In Ethiopia, they believe that both girls and boys have a right to be circumcised," Igras said. However, many tribal leaders there worked with CARE to stop the practice.
The most severe form of FGC is "infibulation," which consists of the girl's genital area being sewn up except for two small holes, said Anna Helland, program officer at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She said many people in Nigeria believe the procedure makes the clitoris more beautiful.
The panelists said the programs worked better when more work was done at the local level. When local leaders or journalists were used, the word spread better and there was a higher rate of FGC being discontinued.
Gannon Gillespie of Tostan, an organization that works with female human rights in Africa, said many women still adhere to the practice because their peers follow it.
"Marriageability is key. It's like a kind of peer pressure," Gillespie said in regards to why many women in African countries still participate in this practice.
Danitha Amarawardana, a senior in the School of Communication, said she was interested in the fact that some African ethnic groups bring their practices of FGC to the U.S. when they immigrate.
"This panel really opened my eyes to the issue of [FGC]. I had no idea the problem was still this widespread," Amarawardana said. "It's shocking to believe this is still practiced, even in America."
The panel said it hopes to see a continued decline in FGC worldwide and hopes to do this by broadening awareness of the issue.
