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Female Genital Mutilation in Islam: Difference between revisions
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[[File:712px-fgc types-ii.svg .jpg|thumb|274x274px|Female Genital Mutilation]] | [[File:712px-fgc types-ii.svg .jpg|thumb|274x274px|Female Genital Mutilation]] | ||
'''Female Genital Mutilation''' (Arabic: ختان المرأة) is the practice of cutting away and altering the external female genitalia for ritual or religious purposes. It can involve both or either '''Clitoridectomy''' and '''Excision.''' Clitoridectomy is the amputation of part or all of the clitoris (or the removal of the clitoral prepuce). Excision is the cutting away of either or both the inner or outer labia. A third practice, '''Infibulation''' (or Pharaonic circumcision), is the paring back of the outer labia, whose cut edges are then stitched together to form, once healed, a seal that covers both the openings of the vagina and the urethra. Infibulation usually includes clitoridectomy. | '''Female Genital Mutilation''' (Arabic: ختان المرأة) is the practice of cutting away and altering the external female genitalia for ritual or religious purposes. It can involve both or either '''Clitoridectomy''' and '''Excision.''' Clitoridectomy is the amputation of part or all of the clitoris (or the removal of the clitoral prepuce). Excision is the cutting away of either or both the inner or outer labia. A third practice, '''Infibulation''' (or Pharaonic circumcision), is the paring back of the outer labia, whose cut edges are then stitched together to form, once healed, a seal that covers both the openings of the vagina and the urethra. Infibulation usually includes clitoridectomy. | ||
UNICEF's 2016 report into FGM estimates that in the 30 countries surveyed at least 200 million girls and women have undergone FGM.<ref>UNICEF [https:// | UNICEF's 2016 report into FGM estimates that in the 30 countries surveyed at least 200 million girls and women have undergone FGM.<ref>UNICEF [https://web.archive.org/web/20220224134221/https://data.unicef.org/resources/female-genital-mutilationcutting-global-concern/ Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: a Global Concern (2016)]</ref> Assuming a world population of 7.9 billion, half of them female, this means that about one in twenty girls or women world-wide have undergone FGM. | ||
About 80% of this FGM is attributable to Muslims.<ref name=":2">[https://web.archive.org/web/20220220090423/https://fgmtruth.wordpress.com/what-percentage-of-global-fgm-are-moslems-responsible-for/ What Percentage of Global FGM is done by Moslems ?]</ref> And assuming a world population of Muslims of 1.7 billion, this means that | About 80% of this FGM is attributable to Muslims.<ref name=":2">[https://web.archive.org/web/20220220090423/https://fgmtruth.wordpress.com/what-percentage-of-global-fgm-are-moslems-responsible-for/ What Percentage of Global FGM is done by Moslems ?]</ref> And assuming a world population of Muslims of 1.7 billion, half of them female, this means that around one in five (20%) Muslim women is mutilated. | ||
FGM is found only in or adjacent to Islamic groups.<ref name=":0" /> The 20% of FGM attributable to non-Muslims occurs in communities living in FGM-practicing Islamic societies (e.g. the Egyptian Copts<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220220090640/https://copticliterature.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/prevalence-of-and-support-for-female-genital-mutilation-within-the-copts-of-egypt-unicef-report-2013/ Prevalence of and Support for Female Genital Mutilation within the Copts of Egypt: Unicef Report (2013)]</ref>), or to non-Islamic societies that have been hubs of the Islamic slave trade (e.g. Ethiopia and Eritrea<ref>[https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/A-Profile-of-FGM-in-Ethiopia_2020.pdf A Profile of Female Genital Mutilation in Ethiopia]</ref>). | FGM is found only in or adjacent to Islamic groups.<ref name=":0" /> The 20% of FGM attributable to non-Muslims occurs in communities living in FGM-practicing Islamic societies (e.g. the Egyptian Copts<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220220090640/https://copticliterature.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/prevalence-of-and-support-for-female-genital-mutilation-within-the-copts-of-egypt-unicef-report-2013/ Prevalence of and Support for Female Genital Mutilation within the Copts of Egypt: Unicef Report (2013)]</ref>), or to non-Islamic societies that have been hubs of the Islamic slave trade (e.g. Ethiopia and Eritrea<ref>[https://data.unicef.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/A-Profile-of-FGM-in-Ethiopia_2020.pdf A Profile of Female Genital Mutilation in Ethiopia]</ref>). This 20% suggest around one in eighty (1.28%) non-Muslim women are genitally mutilated world-wide. [[File:Fgmmuslimmap.jpg|alt=World maps comparing distributions of FGM and of Muslims|thumb|World maps comparing distributions of FGM and of Muslims|left|350x350px]] | ||
FGM predates Islam. The [[Banu Qurayza|Banu Quraysh]], Muhammad's native tribe, appear to have engaged in the practice. FGM is not mentioned in the Quran, but is mentioned in several hadith. One which is graded sahih records Muhammad incidentally assuming the circumcised status of men and women; in a similar one Aisha incidentally reveals that both she and Muhammad were circumcised; and in another three hadiths Muhammad endorses FGM, though those have been graded da'if (weak) yet are still used by proponents of the practice who differ on the grading. Two hadith record the [[sahabah]] (Companions of Mohammed) engaging in FGM. | |||
The FGM hadith give very few clues as to ''the nature'' of the practice they approve. Hence the nature, incidence and distribution of FGM varies between countries and communities. The most significant determining factor appears to be the presiding school of Islam ([[Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence)|fiqh]]). Other factors include the culture's level of anxiety around female sexuality, its proximity to Islamic slave-trade routes (Infibulation is associated with the transportation of slaves), and the nature and degree of Christian influence ( see [https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#FGM_in_Islamic_Law FGM in Islamic law]). | The FGM hadith give very few clues as to ''the nature'' of the practice they approve. Hence the nature, incidence and distribution of FGM varies between countries and communities. The most significant determining factor appears to be the presiding school of Islam ([[Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence)|fiqh]]). Other factors include the culture's level of anxiety around female sexuality, its proximity to Islamic slave-trade routes (Infibulation is associated with the transportation of slaves), and the nature and degree of Christian influence ( see [https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#FGM_in_Islamic_Law FGM in Islamic law]). | ||
While the majors schools of Islamic law either [[Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islamic_Law|oblige, recommend or allow FGM]], and many modern fatwas favour or defend FGM, there has been, over the past half century, a growing unease in the Islamic world concerning the practice (due to a growing concern on the part of organisations such as the UN and UNICEF). This has resulted in some fatwas critical of FGM. It appears that the earliest fatwa clearly critical of FGM was issued in 1984.<ref name=":12">p54 [https://books.google.fr/books?id=qof6J4n1860C&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=Sheikh+Abu-Sabib+1984&source=bl&ots=-apLOOha6B&sig=dpINFFLI-N9KO8_FmEET-MDFKbI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiXh5Gi5OfcAhVOyoUKHeSgDWUQ6AEwC3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=Sheikh%20Abu-Sabib%201984&f=false "Sexual Mutilations: A Human Tragedy" By International Symposium On Sexual Mutiliations 1996]</ref> (see [https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#Modern_Fatwas Modern Fatwas] and [https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#FGM_as_Un-Islamic FGM as Un-Islamic]) | |||
The discussion, debate and analysis of FGM tends to focus exclusively on the question of whether it is Islamic or not. This is not surprising. It arises partly because the majority of Muslim don't practice FGM and have, over the past half century, become troubled by the sizeable minority of Muslims that ''do'' practice it. The focus on the doctrinal issue may also be in part, because it offer a shortcut to explaining the existence of FGM in the Islamic world: if a mother cites her religion as the reason for having her daughter mutilated, and that mother's imam decree the practice as required by Islam, then it feels that something has been demonstrated and proved. | The discussion, debate and analysis of FGM tends to focus exclusively on the question of whether it is Islamic or not. This is not surprising. It arises partly because the majority of Muslim don't practice FGM and have, over the past half century, become troubled by the sizeable minority of Muslims that ''do'' practice it. The focus on the doctrinal issue may also be in part, because it offer a shortcut to explaining the existence of FGM in the Islamic world: if a mother cites her religion as the reason for having her daughter mutilated, and that mother's imam decree the practice as required by Islam, then it feels that something has been demonstrated and proved. | ||
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It is all too natural to consider FGM as nothing more than an arbitrarily misogynistic practice. However, it is actually a solution to certain social problems - albeit problems that not all societies suffer from, and that no society ''need'' suffer from. The section [https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#The_origins_of_FGM the origins of FGM] will consider what these 'problems' are, and why they arise in some societies. A subsequent section ([https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#Islamic_Doctrine_Creating_Social_Conditions_Favourable_to_FGM Islamic Doctrine Creating Social Conditions Favourable to FGM]) shows how Islamic doctrine reproduces the very factors that ''made'' FGM useful or necessary in some pre-Islamic societies. A final section ([https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#FGM_and_the_Uses_of_Trauma FGM and the Uses of Trauma]) considers how the social purposes of FGM is realised through the individual experience of the child undergoing FGM. | It is all too natural to consider FGM as nothing more than an arbitrarily misogynistic practice. However, it is actually a solution to certain social problems - albeit problems that not all societies suffer from, and that no society ''need'' suffer from. The section [https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#The_origins_of_FGM the origins of FGM] will consider what these 'problems' are, and why they arise in some societies. A subsequent section ([https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#Islamic_Doctrine_Creating_Social_Conditions_Favourable_to_FGM Islamic Doctrine Creating Social Conditions Favourable to FGM]) shows how Islamic doctrine reproduces the very factors that ''made'' FGM useful or necessary in some pre-Islamic societies. A final section ([https://wikiislam.net/index.php?title=Female_Genital_Mutilation_in_Islam&stable=0#FGM_and_the_Uses_of_Trauma FGM and the Uses of Trauma]) considers how the social purposes of FGM is realised through the individual experience of the child undergoing FGM. | ||
==FGM in the | ==FGM in the Sira literature== | ||
Academic scholar Kathryn Kueny notes that the sira literature mentions circumcision several times in passing (male and female), though not as one might expect. This is somewhat in contrast to the hadith literature. | |||
The | {{Quote|Kathryn Kueny, ''Abraham's Test: Islamic male circumcision As Anti/Ante-Covenantal Practice''<ref>Kathryn Kueny, ''Abraham's Test: Islamic male circumcision As Anti/Ante-Covenantal Practice'' in Reeves J. C. (Ed.) 2004, ''Bible and Quran: Essays in Scriptural Intertextuality'', Leiden: Brill, p. 172</ref>|Coming away from the ''Sira'', one would have the sense that Arabs practiced circumcision but would have no idea why or how circumcision may possibly be included into the corpus of Islamic rituals, mandatory on otherwise. Certainly we find no clear links between circumcision and the ''sunan Ibrahim''. Ironically as well, we come away from the ''Sira'' with the sense too that Jews never embraced circumcision (their hearts were, after all, uncircumcised) or that circumcision would have any associations with the covenantal promises articulated in the Torah or the Quran. Circumcision is conceived of as a polytheistic, cultural practice involving males and females that is also linked to such undesirable practices as idol worship.}} | ||
{{Quote| | |||
==FGM in the Hadith== | |||
{{anchor|hadith}} | |||
FGM is mentioned in (at least) eight Hadith, most of which are still used by proponents of the practice in modern times.<ref>[https://m.islamqa.info/en/answers/60314/circumcision-of-girls-and-some-doctors-criticism-thereof Circumcision of girls and some doctors' criticism thereof] - islamqa.info website - 23 August 2005</ref> In two sahih reports Muhammad and Aisha respectively are reported to have incidentally mentioned male and female circumcision (in the latter case, that the two of them were both circumcised), and Muhammad endorses the practice in three others, though those are graded as da'if (weak) authenticity by some scholars. Two report [[Sahabah]] (Muhammad's companions) participating in FGM. The remaining hadith has little import doctrinally, but is of linguistic, historical and sociological interest in that it quotes a Meccan warrior being mocked for being one who performs FGM. | |||
The following hadith mentions circumcision (''khitan''), though is ambiguous as to whether male, female or both is intended (FGM proponents assume both). The concept of fitra in this hadith physically distinguished believers by various means from non-believers. The other concept of fitra that emerged in early Islam (and a closer match to how the word appears in {{Quran|30|30}}) is that every child is born upon fitrah, and then his parents make him Jew or Christian (see for example {{Muwatta|16||53}} or {{Bukhari|2|23|467}}. | |||
{{Quote|1={{Bukhari|7|72|777}}; See also {{Muslim|2|495}}|2=Abu Hurayrah said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: “The fitrah is five things – or five things are part of the fitrah – '''circumcision''' [الْخِتَانُ - khitan], shaving the pubes, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and plucking the armpit hairs.”}} | |||
These next two sahih hadith record Muhammad and Aisha respectively mentioning male and female circumcision (in the latter case their own) incidentally in the context of ritual cleansing after intercourse. | |||
{{Quote|1={{Muslim|3|684}}; see also {{Bukhari|1|5|289}}|2=Abu Musa reported: There cropped up a difference of opinion between a group of Muhajirs (Emigrants and a group of Ansar (Helpers) (and the point of dispute was) that the Ansar said: The bath (because of sexual intercourse) becomes obligatory only-when the semen spurts out or ejaculates. But the Muhajirs said: When a man has sexual intercourse (with the woman), a bath becomes obligatory (no matter whether or not there is seminal emission or ejaculation). Abu Musa said: Well, I satisfy you on this (issue). He (Abu Musa, the narrator) said: I got up (and went) to 'A'isha and sought her permission and it was granted, and I said to her: 0 Mother, or Mother of the Faithful, I want to ask you about a matter on which I feel shy. She said: Don't feel shy of asking me about a thing which you can ask your mother, who gave you birth, for I am too your mother. Upon this I said: What makes a bath obligatory for a person? She replied: You have come across one well informed! The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: When anyone sits amidst four parts (of the woman) and the '''circumcised''' [الْخِتَانُ - khitan] | |||
parts touch each other a bath becomes obligatory.}} | |||
To '''''<nowiki/>'sit amidst four parts'<nowiki/>''''' of a woman is a euphemism for sexual intercourse. {{Quote|[https://web.archive.org/web/20220224151940/https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:108 Jami` at-Tirmidhi 108]|"[Abu Musa has told us that Muhammad bin Almuthanna has told him that Alwaleed Bin Muslim, from Al-Awza'i, from Abdulrahman bin Alqasim from his father from Aisha]: when the circumcised meets the circumcised, then indeed Ghusl is required. Myself and Allah's Messenger did that, so we performed Ghusl."}}The above variant reports Muhammad and Aisha having intercourse, and having to perform 'ghusl' (the ritual bath) because both were 'circumcised'. Note that this Hadith is rated as ''sahih'' (authentic). | |||
The following hadith is graded weak: | |||
{{Quote|1=Ahmad Ibn Hanbal 20:719; Al-Baihaqqy 8:324|2=Abu al- Malih ibn `Usama's father relates that the Prophet said: "'''Circumcision''' [الْخِتَانُ - khitan] is a law for men and a preservation of honour for women'."}} | |||
This one is weak according to Abu Dawud himself and classical scholars such as Ibn Hajah (though sahih according to al-Albani and was considered sahih by the Shafi'i and Hanbali scholars, mursal or daif by Hanafis and Malikis): | |||
{{Quote|1={{Abu Dawud|41|5251}}|2=Narrated Umm Atiyyah al-Ansariyyah: A woman used to perform '''circumcision''' [الْخِتَانُ - khitan] in Medina. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to her: "Do not cut severely as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband". | |||
Abu Dawud said: It has been transmitted by 'Ubaid Allah b. 'Amr from 'Abd al-Malik to the same effect through a different chain. | |||
Abu Dawud said: It is not a strong tradition. It has been transmitted in mursal form (missing the link of the Companions) | |||
Abu Dawud said: Muhammad b. Hasan is obscure, and this tradition is weak. }} | |||
This one again is graded weak: | |||
{{Quote|Mukhtassar Zawa’id Musnad Al -Bazzar of Ibn Hajar, Item 1227, I, 669|[Muhammad said] “Oh women of the Ansâr! Apply henna and circumcise [فَاخْفِضُو - khaffad]! But do not exaggerate for it is more pleasing for your women folks when they are with their husbands."}} | |||
The following three hadith touch on FGM, but do not involve Muhammad. The following two hadiths come from Al-Adab Al-Mufrad. This is a collection of hadith about the manners of Muhammad and his companions, compiled by the Islamic scholar al-Bukhari. It contains 1,322 hadiths, most of which focus on Muhammad's companions rather than Muhammad himself. Al-Bukhari's evaluation of the hadiths within ''al-Adab al-Mufrad'' was not as rigorous as for his best-known collection ''[[Sahih Bukhari]]''. The Adab have less doctrinal authority than hadith featuring Muhammad. However, scholars have ruled most of the hadith in the collection as being ''sahih'' (authentic) or ''hasan'' (sound). | |||
{{Quote|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20220224161518/https://sunnah.com/adab/53/4 Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 53:1247]|2=“Umm ‘Alqama related that when the daughters of ‘A’isha’s brother were '''circumcised''' [اخْتُتِنَّ - khitan], ‘A’isha was asked, “Shall we call someone to amuse them?” “Yes,” she replied. ‘Adi was sent for and he came to them. ‘A’isha passed by the room and saw him singing and shaking his head in rapture – and he had a large head of hair. ‘Uff!’ she exclaimed, ‘A shaytan! Get him out! Get him out!'””}} | |||
{{Quote|1=[https://sunnah.com/adab/53/2 Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 53:1245]|2=An old woman from Kufa, the grandmother of 'Ali ibn Ghurab, reported that Umm al-Muhajir said, "I was captured with some girls from Byzantium. 'Uthman offered us Islam, but only myself and one other girl accepted Islam. 'Uthman said, "Go and '''circumcise''' [فَاخْفِضُو - khaffad] them and purify them."'}}فَاخْفِضُو (khaffad) translates as 'lower them' or 'trim them'. | |||
This hadith includes an exchange of insults between Meccan warriors and Muhammad's companions prior to the [[Battle of Uhud|battle of Uhud]]. {{Quote|1={{Bukhari|5|59|399}}|2=“[…] I went out with the people for the battle. When the army aligned for the fight, Siba’ came out and said, ‘Is there any (Muslim) to accept my challenge to a duel?’ Hamza bin `Abdul Muttalib came out and said, ‘O Siba’. O Ibn Um Anmar, '''the one who circumcises''' [أَنْمَارٍ مُقَطِّعَةِ الْبُظُورِ - muqaṭwiʿaẗi al-ْbuẓūri] other ladies! Do you challenge Allah and His Apostle?’ […]”}}أَنْمَارٍ مُقَطِّعَةِ الْبُظُورِ (muqaṭwiʿaẗi al-ْbuẓūri) translates as 'cutter of clitorises'. | |||
==FGM in Islamic Law== | ==FGM in Islamic Law== | ||
{{Main|Female Genital Mutilation in Islamic Law}} | {{Main|Female Genital Mutilation in Islamic Law}} | ||
[[File:Madhhabplusfgm.jpeg|thumb|Maps showing distribution of madhabs and prevalence of FGM]] | [[File:Madhhabplusfgm.jpeg|thumb|Maps showing distribution of madhabs and prevalence of FGM]] | ||
Only one school of Islam - the Shafi'i - makes FGM universally obligatory. The other schools of | Only one school of Islam - the Shafi'i - makes FGM universally obligatory. The other schools of Islamic law permit, recommend or oblige it with differing levels. No school of Islam forbids FGM since nothing that Muhammad allowed can be prohibited. | ||
===Sunni Islam=== | ===Sunni Islam=== | ||
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*The Maliki school recommends FGM, but does not decree it as obligatory. | *The Maliki school recommends FGM, but does not decree it as obligatory. | ||
*The Hanafi school decrees FGM to be optional. The Hanafi is the school of fiqh which least favours FGM and Hanafi communities generally don't practice FGM. | *The Hanafi school decrees FGM to be optional. The Hanafi is the school of fiqh which least favours FGM and Hanafi communities generally don't practice FGM. | ||
*The Shafi'i school decrees FGM to be obligatory. Shafi'i countries | *The Shafi'i school decrees FGM to be obligatory. Shafi'i countries generally have +90% FGM-rates. Infibulation, the most severe form of FGM practiced under Islam, is almost entirely attributable to followers of the Shafi'i school. | ||
*The Hanbali school has have two opinions concerning FGM: some scholars decree it obligatory, other as 'honourable' and therefore recommended. | *The Hanbali school has have two opinions concerning FGM: some scholars decree it obligatory, other as 'honourable' and therefore recommended. | ||
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However, FGM and Rites of Passage do share one characteristic: they both involve a deliberate ordeal (a 'destructive nature') which brings about permanent physical and psychological changes. | However, FGM and Rites of Passage do share one characteristic: they both involve a deliberate ordeal (a 'destructive nature') which brings about permanent physical and psychological changes. | ||
This is reflected in the fact that anaesthetics are generally not used, even when available. [[File:Fgm-in-the-middle-east.jpg|thumb|Iraqi Kurdish four-year-old Shwen screams during her circumcision in Suleimaniyah on April 14, 2009]]{{Quote|[https://web.archive.org/web/20220220084006/https://www.unfpa.org/resources/female-genital-mutilation-fgm-frequently-asked-questions Female genital mutilation (FGM) frequently asked questions, UNFPA (2020)]|'''Anaesthetic and antiseptics are generally not used''' unless the procedure is carried out by medical practitioners.}}[[File:Endfgm-campaign-video-016.jpg|thumb|August, 25, 2008. Tuz Khurmatu, northern Iraq, a midwife (who also delivered Omer and is a trusted and valued member of the neighborhood) slices part of seven year-old Sheelan Anwar Omer's genitals (Photographer: Andrea Bruce).<ref>Image cropped from larger photo - for original see https://web.archive.org/web/20220220093630/https://i0.wp.com/freethoughtblogs.com/taslima/files/2012/06/Kurdish-girl.jpg?ssl=1</ref>|alt=]]{{Quote|[https://web.archive.org/web/20220220084138/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13131835.i-screaming-mother/ 'I was screaming for my mother' (2013)]|I remember I was screaming for my grandmother and my mother to help me but no-one did. I wasn't given any medication before or after - '''not anaesthetic, nothing'''.}}{{Quote|Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Survivor Tells Her Story (2016) - youtu.be/jlyj9hgdbrQ|My aunt was a doctor, so when she led me downstairs for a clinic and instructed me to lie flat on my back on her operating table I didn't think to question her authority. '''With no anesthetic''' and very little warning she performed a ritualized cut.}}{{Quote|{{cite web | This is reflected in the fact that anaesthetics are generally not used, even when available. [[File:Fgm-in-the-middle-east.jpg|thumb|Iraqi Kurdish four-year-old Shwen screams during her circumcision in Suleimaniyah on April 14, 2009]]{{Quote|[https://www.amazon.com/Infidel-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali/dp/0743289692 p32 'Infidel' - by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (2007)]|Then the scissors went down between my legs and the man cut off my inner labia and clitoris. I heard it, like a butcher snipping the fat off a piece of meat. '''A piercing pain shot up between my legs, indescribable,''' and I howled. Then came the sewing: the long blunt needle clumsily pushed into my bleeding outer labia, my loud and anguished protests...}}{{Quote|[https://web.archive.org/web/20220220084006/https://www.unfpa.org/resources/female-genital-mutilation-fgm-frequently-asked-questions Female genital mutilation (FGM) frequently asked questions, UNFPA (2020)]|'''Anaesthetic and antiseptics are generally not used''' unless the procedure is carried out by medical practitioners.}}[[File:Endfgm-campaign-video-016.jpg|thumb|August, 25, 2008. Tuz Khurmatu, northern Iraq, a midwife (who also delivered Omer and is a trusted and valued member of the neighborhood) slices part of seven year-old Sheelan Anwar Omer's genitals (Photographer: Andrea Bruce).<ref>Image cropped from larger photo - for original see https://web.archive.org/web/20220220093630/https://i0.wp.com/freethoughtblogs.com/taslima/files/2012/06/Kurdish-girl.jpg?ssl=1</ref>|alt=]]{{Quote|[https://web.archive.org/web/20220220084138/https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13131835.i-screaming-mother/ 'I was screaming for my mother' (2013)]|I remember I was screaming for my grandmother and my mother to help me but no-one did. I wasn't given any medication before or after - '''not anaesthetic, nothing'''.}}{{Quote|Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Survivor Tells Her Story (2016) - youtu.be/jlyj9hgdbrQ|My aunt was a doctor, so when she led me downstairs for a clinic and instructed me to lie flat on my back on her operating table I didn't think to question her authority. '''With no anesthetic''' and very little warning she performed a ritualized cut.}}{{Quote|{{cite web | ||
| title = 'A horrific nightmare' Female genital mutilation survivor shares her … | | title = 'A horrific nightmare' Female genital mutilation survivor shares her … | ||
| url = https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-thursday-edition-1.3784062/a-horrific-nightmare-female-genital-mutilation-survivor-shares-her-story-in-ottawa-1.3784067 | | url = https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-thursday-edition-1.3784062/a-horrific-nightmare-female-genital-mutilation-survivor-shares-her-story-in-ottawa-1.3784067 | ||