| Abstract: | Survey data reveal that female genital mutilation (FGM) is being practiced in most Nigerian states, usually on babies and young girls but occasionally during wedding preparations or 7 months into the first pregnancy. Among the few tribes that mutilate women after marriage, husbands carry out the deed. Usually, FGM is performed on a group of girls, but it can also be performed on one girl in her home. The mutilator, who is paid a token fee, uses a knife or a razor. Post-mutilation treatment includes application of a variety of traditional methods. The most usual immediate complication is bleeding but other complications include tearing, septicemia, fistula development, stenosis, delayed second-stage labor, tetanus, urinary obstruction, and dyspareunia. Reasons cited for FGM include tradition, the belief that FGM curbs female promiscuity, and the belief that a baby whose head touches a clitoris during delivery will die. A prominent 1981 newspaper article on the subject reported the view of a physician that the practice ought to be eradicated and the view of a mutilator that it is not likely to be stopped. |
