Female genital cutting (FGC) or female genital mutilation (FGM) is a form of female circumcision. According to World Health Organization (WHO), the practice is extremely detrimental to the natural function of female body because it significantly damages normal tissues of genitalia (as cited in Roux, 2012). WHO defines FGC as a “partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons” (Roux, 2012, p. 170). It should be mentioned that the term mutilation, when applied to female circumcision, has a pejorative connotation; therefore, it is better to opt for FGC when discussing the issue within the paradigm of social justice.
FGC practices significantly differ across many societies including Egypt, Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea, Nigeria, and Chad among others. The operation types range from excision of prepuce to the exposure to corrosive substances (Donohoe, 2006). The most intrusive practice involves removal of surgical sutures used for joining tissues of labia. According to Donohoe (2006), more than 130 million women have been exposed to some form of FGC worldwide. The procedures are usually being performed on girls from 4 to 12 years of age (Donohoe, 2006). The reasons for carrying out FGC can be divided into three groups: psychosexual, sociologic, and hygienic. The psychosexual dimension of FGC procedure is concerned with the preservation of chastity and virginity. Sociological reasons provided for the practice range from respect for traditions to the protection against evil spirits (Donohoe, 2006). Hygienic reasons for performing FGC revolve around the beliefs that clitoris is dangerous for male health or that its removal enhances fertility. It should be mentioned that numerous religions such as Islam, Coptic Christianity, Protestantism and Catholicism among others practice FGC (Donohoe, 2006). The procedure is associated with severe physical and psychological consequences including but not limited to bladder and urinary tract infections, painful urination and sex, sepsis, cellulitis, haemorrhage, and vaginal introitus (Donohoe, 2006; Roux, 2012). Women that have been exposed to some type of FGC often have obstructed labor or caesarean section.
Social justice can be defined as an equitable distribution of resources within society. It is concerned with intra-personal and intra-group relationships influenced by just of unjust distribution of goods. Therefore, the paradigm of equality and social justice requires equal access to or dispensation of health care services (Roux, 2012). A society free of injustices has to ensure that health disparities are eliminated. Therefore, social justice requires nurses, physicians, and other health care practitioners to act both collectively and individually as agents of change (Roux, 2012). Taking into consideration the fact that FGC is associated with severe physical and psychological consequences for female health, it could be argued that health care community should make active efforts aimed at the promotion of human rights and the banning of the harmful practice. It should be kept in mind that various cultures regard the violation of human rights differently. What might seem as a moral underpinning for acting in defense of social justice in one country might be viewed as an attempt to denigrate religious-specific values and traditions preserved by millennia in traditional societies in another (Roux, 2012). Nonetheless, health care community should strive for condemning the practices that violate bodily integrity of young girls across the globe. Therefore, it is necessary to educate marginalized communities about a self-empowerment dimension of combating the harmful tradition while taking into account cultural and religious realities of societies involved in the issue.
References
Donohoe, M. (2006). Female genital cutting: Epidemiology, consequences, and female empowerment as a means of cultural change. Medscape, 11(2), 1-3.
Roux, C. (2012). Safe spaces: Human rights education in diverse contexts. Boston, MA: Sense Publishers.