Female circumcision —what it means

Press, 23 July 1980, Page 14

Female circumcision —what it means

There is a saying in the Muslim Sudan: “You must cover your own pots before covering other people’s.” This means it is better to. marry a girl from one’s own extended family than someone unrelated. But the chastity of Sudanese women is safeguarded by another, fiercer custom: they are circumcised at the age of six or seven. Let me clarify the different forms of female circumcision. “Clitoridectomy” consists of the - removal of the tip of the clitoris. “Excision” involves removal of the: entire clitoris and is sbme-x times accompanied by paring of the labia minora.. , “Infibulation” involves excision of all the external genitalia. The clitoris and the labia minora are moved. The fleshy parts of the labia majora are then pared down leaving enough skin for them to be sewn together. In this way the vulva is closed, except for a small passage for urine and menstrual flow. Enlargement of the orifice after marriage has to be made by the husband, midwife or in hospital (although this may not be necessary). A second “opening” is necessitated by a birth and this has immediately to be repaired because of possible infection. Adverse results of infibulation may include shock, haemorrhage and septicaemia, which lead to death. Infertility and chronic infections of the urinary and genital tracts are delayed complications. Infibulation can also cause obstetric complications. Infibulaticn is increasing more rapidly in the country than it is diminishing in the towns. The only modernisation is in the towns and larger villages, and consists of employing gut to close the vulva (instead of acacia thorns) and in achieving local anaesthesia with novacaine injections. To preserve the honour of female relations in the Sudan means, above all, to protect them from extramarital sexual intercourse.

Infibulation is the most drastic of the measures intended. to secure that objective. J,n fact, infibulation can hide the lack of virginity, but it remains an accepted sign of chastity. There is even a saying to the effect that a Sudanese woman is like a water-melon, because there is no way in. Extra-marital sex, when discovered, leads to serious consequences. A girl loses her ’ird (decency) may no. longer be killed by her relatives, but she will not easily find a husband. At one time, an adulteress; would be subjected to ordeal by fire and, if she did pot pass the test, would have to , die. The seducer also •shared the same . fate.“They have to wash shame with blood.” One goo d-looking woman assured me that there was no question as to the advantages of infibulation. She enjoyed intercourse more as a result .of artificial narrowing of the vagina and so did her husband. After each confinement — “Praise be to Allah” — the' infibulation had been repaired and she’-was as good as a virgin again. Infibulation has no reli-

gious justification. It is,, however, intimately associated with tradition ,m--the Sudan. Lines of early Islamic verse suggest that the custom of female circumcision could have been derived from Arabia. Al Farazdak, in a lampoon, implied that the women of the Azd tribe never experienced the pains of circumcision, and so were of an inferior stock. Excision is a practice of great antiquity. A Greek papyrus in the British Museum dated 163 B.C. refers

to the circumcision of girls at Memphis at the age when they received their dowries. Sexual activities of women before marriage were proscribed in ancient codes primarily because they threatened the male’s property rights in the female whom he was taking as a wife. Yet few women see infibulation as sexual mutilation or as a form of oppression by men, perhaps because it. is the women who perform it. Nevertheless, once education and emancipation bring realisation of victimisation, serious psychiatric breakdowns could occur. When dealing with a • cultural evil, it is a misuse of time and effort to apportion blame to either sex. All possible effort should be put into exposing and removing the evil. Some Western feminists have expressed vociferous concern abbpt the problem without being wdll informed."lt is not-' , possible to exaggerate the gravity of the custom, but- in-, accurate statements, will not help the cause —they only arouse indignation. -Exaggeration of' the problm puts Africans on .the defensive. Any effec-

tive action -must be in-'-itiated by the women con-.; cemed with the continual sympathetic backing of ■ ■their sisters everywhere., The matter cannot be raised too often. Copyright — London Observer Service.

ANNE CLOUDSLEY, of the “Observer” who worked for 11 years in the Sudan, describes a practice which caused deep concern' to the recent United Nations women’s conference in Copenhagen.

yßeautyj and <£ttelfy ~ V the Sudan: “Adverse fe- . stilts oEiilfibuiation may includL shock. haemoE ? i’hage and; septicaemia' which cap lead to death.” ?