Religious views on female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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There is a widespread view among practitioners of female genital mutilation (FGM) that it is a religious requirement,[2][3][4][8] although prevalence rates often vary according to geography and ethnic group.[9] There is an ongoing debate about the extent to which the practice's continuation is influenced by custom, social pressure, lack of health-care information, and the position of women in society.[lower-alpha 1] The procedures confer no health benefits and can lead to serious health problems.[7][11]
Origin | Northeast Africa, possibly Meroë (current Sudan), c. 800 BCE – c. 350 CE[citation needed] |
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Earliest reference | 163 BCE |
Concentration | Africa, Middle East, Indonesia, Malaysia |
Religions | Mostly Sunni Muslims, but also Animist, Christian and one Jewish group |
Required by any religion | None except Shafi'i version of Sunni Islam who require removal of the prepuce.[1][2][3][4][5][6] |
Definition | "Female genital mutilation comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons" (WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, 1997).[7] |
FGM is practised predominantly within certain Muslim societies,[12] but it also exists within some adjacent Christian and animist groups.[13] The practice isn't required by most forms of Islam and fatwas have been issued forbidding FGM,[14] favouring it,[15] or leaving the decision to parents but advising against it.[16][17] However, FGM was introduced in Southeast Asia by the spread of Shafi'i version of Islamic jurisprudence, which considers the practice obligatory.[2][3][4][5][18] There is mention of it on a Greek papyrus from 163 BCE and a possible indirect reference to it on a coffin from Egypt's Middle Kingdom (c. 1991–1786 BCE).[19] It has been found among Coptic Christians in Egypt, Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia, and Protestants and Catholics in Sudan and Kenya.[20] The only Jewish group known to have practiced it are the Beta Israel of Ethiopia.[lower-alpha 2]