CAIRO: Let's get something clear first: the problem with female circumcision in Egypt has absolutely nothing to do with religion. Even though practitioners often believe the practice has some sort of religious support, religious leaders of both Islam and Christianity have openly and officially condemned it. Female circumcision is purely cultural; it is thought to have existed in ancient Egypt, Ethiopia, and Greece, and therefore the practice transcends religion. Its practitioners look at it as a fundamental part of their culture and identity and perceive it as a part of their religious duties. Social media went into a state of disbelief when one of the female presidential advisors outlined her views on female circumcision recently. In an interview, she stated that it's a method to “refine" or “beautify" women and that her problem with it isn't the fact that its actually performed, but the “when" its performed. While the rest of us are worried about things like death, sexual dysfunction, infection and urethra damage, she's more fixated on how it shouldn't be performed before puberty. Even though female circumcision, or female genital mutilation (FGM), was officially banned in Egypt in 2007, a study carried out by the Egyptian ministry of health in 2003, reported that 94.6 percent of married women have been exposed to the practice. This topic is another women's rights issue that has received very little attention over the years, simply because of its proximity to the taboo topic of sex. To most, being against female circumcision means acknowledging that sex is a right for women just as much as it is for men and that denying them that right is unjust. For some reason acknowledging that fact automatically turns even some of the most open-minded Egyptians against you. Just saying the word “sex" automatically triggers a wave of shushing and blushing. It is as alarming as yelling bomb on an airplane! Being the conservative culture that we are, we choose to fixate on the sexual aspect of the issue not on the physical and emotional harm on the human being. There are four types of female circumcision; differences basically lie in how far you decide to cut. Even the less extensive types 1 and 2 that are most common here in Egypt lead to fatal complications and long-term health problems simply because the practice interferes with the natural functions of a girl and woman's body. The comparison between female and male circumcision has no foundation whatsoever. Male circumcision, unlike female circumcision, has some documented benefits to its practice; studies show that circumcised males are less at risk to urinary tract infections; sexually transmitted infections and even cancer. Moreover, it rarely causes short or long-term health or psychological problems. There are however, absolutely no health benefits to female circumcision and its consequences both short and long-term are far more common and severe. Forget the long-term psychological trauma and sexual dysfunction, female circumcision victims can die right then and there. They risk infection, hemorrhage, problems getting pregnant, and problems during pregnancy and labor and that's just a few. So with all those risks and the fact that its against the law (at least technically) why aren't the numbers going down? It's because of good-old fashion sexism! Studies by the World Health Organization (WHO) and DHS stated that the reasons for the continuity of female circumcision included the false perception of it being a religious obligation, cultural and social traditions, a method to avoid pre- and post-marital promiscuity, an attempt to preserve her and her family's “honor" and ensuring better marriage proposals. You'd think it was a method of patriarchal control of a women's sexuality, when actually studies show that mothers are the main decision-makers for the procedure over 65 percent of the time, and fathers are the decision makers only 9 percent of the time, and during the remaining 26 percent of the time the decision falls on the entire extended family. By all means, why leave it up to the parents, let's get the entire family involved in the heinous crime. This proves that we don't get to blame men for this one, they aren't the oppressors here, we are doing a pretty decent job of traumatizing members of our own gender and reducing our own status in our own society all by ourselves. The fact that we still have people performing this crime is only the tip of the iceberg. Female circumcision is currently being practiced in at last 28 countries, it's a global problem and it wasn't even until 1979 when any official statement condemning it was made. That's when its rightful name of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) finally made its first appearance. Because that's precisely what it is, the pointless, life threatening, dismemberment of a woman's genitals. What's worrisome isn't that it actually happens, but the lack of public outrage towards it. The fact that we still have high profile individuals with a big follower base openly encouraging its practice is something we've gotten used to; it's a byproduct of years of brainwashing. What's truly terrifying is how rarely someone openly steps up and denounces it or actually takes steps to eliminate it, religious leaders included. Especially when those very people calling FGM a “rite of passage" currently hold political positions and have legislative power. It comes to show you just how far away from a brighter future we truly are. Brace yourself Egypt, we still have a long way to go.
