Did you know this about female genital mutilation?

Introcision

• Introcision is another rare form of female genital mutilation reported to be practiced by the Pitta-Patta aborigines of Australia.
• When a girl reaches puberty, the whole tribe - both sexes- assembles. The operator, an elderly man, enlarges the vaginal orifice by tearing it downward with three fingers bound with opossum string essentially just shredding the clitoris until it’s gone. This is usually followed by compulsory sexual intercourse with a number of men.
• It is reported that 'introcision' is also practiced in eastern Mexico, Brazil, and Peru. In North-Eastern Peru, among a division of the Pano Indians, the operation is performed in front of the whole community where an elderly woman, using a bamboo knife cuts around the hymen from the vaginal entrance and severs the hymen from the labia, at the same time exposing the clitoris. Medical herbs are applied, followed by the insertion into the vagina of a penis-shaped object made of clay.
• The other but unclassified methods usually involve pricking, piercing or incising of the clitoris and/or labia stretching of the clitoris, cauterization by burning of the clitoris and surrounding tissue, the insertion of corrosive substances or herbs into the vagina to cause bleeding or for the purposes of tightening or narrowing it.

Defenders of FGM

• Cultures that practice FGM fall into three categories: the controlling, the fearful, and the ignorant.  The controlling cultures wish to keep their woman's sexual urges at a minimum, so they mutilate the genitalia to prevent them from becoming like “American Girls”. The controlling also remove the clitoris so as to remove the “man parts” from the woman and make her more womanly.
• The fearful are those who genuinely believe that if the woman keeps her clitoris, a child could be stillborn during birth.  They also believe that a woman who keeps her clitoris is “unclean”, and will not let her handle any of the food of water in fear of it getting contaminated.  The fearful are the religious, superstitious cultures.
• The ignorant are those who blindly follow tradition, even though they know no good reason for doing so.  These categories very often are combined, and are all used to defend FGM.
• Then there are the victims! Many of the victims are helpless because they are either very young, or they are very ignorant to their rights.  
• Some women don’t even realize that what is happening to them is wrong because it has been apart of their culture for so long. In many of the FGM practicing cultures, the “procedure” happens when the girl is only a few weeks old.  These young girls may not feel that they were wronged because by the time they can have their own opinions, the pain is as far gone as the memory of ever having the missing parts.  
• There are also the victims who don’t have the operation done until right before they give birth because it is believed if the clitoris is not removed and the child comes into contact with it during birth it will be a stillborn.

Empowering women is the key!