The Issue of Female Circumcision from a Medical Anthropology Perspective

Approximately 100 million women are estimated to have been circumcised (Toubia 1994, 712). Because it is also a very important issue worthy of attention and understanding, female circumcision or female genital excision or female genital resection. Because women's circumcision is closely related to female sexual behavior and fertility, it is therefore for those who complete the operation that it has a strong cultural significance (Toubia 1994, 712). This practice is done in various cultural and ethnic groups (Toubia 1994, 712).

The circumcision problem often involves objections. African activists in the 1950s and 1960s said, "Women's circumcision is a ritualized form of abuse against women, violence against women, infringement of women" (Althaus, 4). Discuss openly about the theme of female circumcision. And medical personnel show health effects to international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Thereafter, in 1979, international efforts began from the World Health Organization's statement on female circumcision. In 1984, African women's groups gathered in Dakar, Senegal. They established an African committee there, opposed traditional practices that affect women's and child's health. Since 1984, a group of 23 African countries has cooperated to stop female genital excision.

African activists and medical professionals have attempted to draw attention of international organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) on the health effects of female circumcision. We held a workshop to discuss traditional practices that affect women's and child's health and proposed government recommendations to eliminate this practice (World Health Organization 1). The United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO) have taken the first steps to eliminate these practices, but other organizations are working hard as well. International consensus statements and conventions, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, are now beginning to include paragraphs that address women's circumcision. At the US level, much effort has been made to abolish this practice at home and abroad.