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→FGM and the Uses of Trauma
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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: | 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|[http://archive.today/2021.04.27-044528/https://www.unfpa.org/pcm/node/9481 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 http://archive.today/2021.04.26-065336/https://i0.wp.com/freethoughtblogs.com/taslima/files/2012/06/Kurdish-girl.jpg?ssl=1</ref>|alt=]]{{Quote|[http://archive.today/2021.04.27-042745/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 littlewarning 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 | ||
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| archiveurl = http://archive.today/T79HL | | archiveurl = http://archive.today/T79HL | ||
| archivedate = 2021-04-27 }}|In Burkina Faso, we did not have proper clinics for these procedures. We didn’t have doctors in white jackets and gloves. '''We didn’t even have anesthesia to numb the pain'''.}}{{Quote|<nowiki>Breakout Session 3: Female Genital Mutilation - The Facts (2017) - youtu.be/nuaZ_QIx-3U?t=31m44s</nowiki> | | archivedate = 2021-04-27 }}|In Burkina Faso, we did not have proper clinics for these procedures. We didn’t have doctors in white jackets and gloves. '''We didn’t even have anesthesia to numb the pain'''.}}{{Quote|<nowiki>Breakout Session 3: Female Genital Mutilation - The Facts (2017) - youtu.be/nuaZ_QIx-3U?t=31m44s</nowiki> | ||
|Remember, '''there were no anesthetics''' because for we you have to walk the walk, you have to dance the dance. It's what makes you a woman. When you feel that pain it shows you that pain is all you know as a woman.}}Why are anaesthetics not used? | |Remember, '''there were no anesthetics''' because for we you have to walk the walk, you have to dance the dance. It's what makes you a woman. When you feel that pain it shows you that pain is all you know as a woman.}}Why are anaesthetics not used? [[File:Indonesia - susanfemalecircumcision-1.jpg|thumb|Medicalised FGM in Indonesia - note the apparent lack of anaesthesia (see also [http://archive.today/2021.04.26-080016/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2012/nov/18/female-genital-mutilation-circumcision-indonesia The day I saw 248 girls suffering genital mutilation] The Guardian 2012) |alt=|350x350px]]There are several possible reasons. It may be that mothers and other older females in the family expect their daughters to undergo the same procedure (and suffering) that they did; anaesthetics may be unavailable or too expensive for poor families; the illegality of FGM in many countries may make anaesthetics hard to obtain for 'cutters' - or discourage those who can legitimately obtain and use anaesthetics (such as doctors, midwives and nurses) from practicing FGM. The non-use of anaesthetics may also be to some extent due to the fact that cultures that practice it do not understand it as a medical matter but a religious or technical matter and the concerns, priorities and paraphinalia of medical procedures don't apply. This may also explain why it is so often performed with germ-infested instruments, with no regard to asepsis and with crude ersatz instruments. | ||
However, probably the most significant factor, one which might explain why anaesthetics are not used even when the mutilation is performed in medicalised environment by nurses, is that trauma is part of the functionality of FGM. | |||
Ordeal, pain and fear are used rites of passage to alter the identity and personality of the initiand and it appears that FGM makes use of pain to the same ends. | |||
Ordeal, pain and fear are used rites of passage to | |||