Infibulation, the savage practice that is still in use

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the current practice of female genital mutilation, an ancestral practice devoid of all logic and humanitarian sense, which has been endured for decades by African women. This mutilation, rooted in a religious and cultural context, is performed on girls between the ages of two and seven and involves the partial or total removal of the female genitalia, sometimes leaving only a small opening for menstrual fluid and urine. The objective is to eliminate any sexual pleasure a woman might experience and, from an "aesthetic" perspective, to remove the female genitalia deemed less aesthetically pleasing. For many years, human rights organizations have attempted to address this issue, and together with women who are victims and now leading the fight, they raise their voices worldwide, striving to stop this savage and widespread practice in African countries. The result of this work was that all 250 members of parliament signed an action plan to eradicate this practice. In 2019, the Sierra Leonean government banned female genital mutilation as part of a series of measures against initiation ceremonies.