Religious views on female genital mutilation
There is a widespread view among practitioners of female genital mutilation (FGM) that it is a religious requirement, although prevalence rates often vary according to geography and ethnic group. There is an ongoing debate about the extent to which the practice's continuation is influenced by custom, social pressure, lack of health-care information, and the position of women in society. The procedures confer no health benefits and can lead to serious health problems.
Worldwide prevalence of female genital mutilation | |
| Origin | Northeast Africa, possibly Meroë (current Sudan), c. 800 BCE – c. 350 CE |
|---|---|
| Earliest reference | 163 BCE |
| Concentration | Africa, Middle East, Indonesia, Malaysia |
| Religions | Mostly Sunni Shafi Muslims, but also Animist, Christian and one Jewish group |
| Required by any religion | None except Shafi'i version of Sunni Islam who require removal of the prepuce. |
| Definition | "Female genital mutilation comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons" (WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, 1997). |
FGM is practised predominantly within certain Muslim societies, but it also exists within some adjacent Christian and animist groups. The practice isn't required by most forms of Islam and fatwas have been issued forbidding FGM, favouring it, or leaving the decision to parents but advising against it. However, FGM was introduced in Southeast Asia by the spread of Shafi'i version of Islamic jurisprudence, which considers the practice obligatory. There is mention of it on a Greek papyrus from 163 BCE and a possible indirect reference to it on a coffin from Egypt's Middle Kingdom (c. 1991–1786 BCE). It has been found among Coptic Christians in Egypt, Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia, and Protestants and Catholics in Sudan and Kenya. The only Jewish group known to have practiced it are the Beta Israel of Ethiopia.