Female Genital Mutilation: As the 'cutting season' approaches, end the silence

by Qanta Ahmed
The Independent
April 10, 2014

http://www.childrensrightsinstitute.org/332/female-genital-mutilation-as-the-cutting-season

Popular culture's depiction of the sexually liberated western woman is as mythic as it is material. Even our fake orgasms are canonised- who doesn't remember Sally leaving Harry agog in the famous diner scene? Yet, for millions of women around the world, the possibilities of real sexual expression is brutally resected, often even before puberty, through female genital mutilation, a grotesque assault which impacts over 125 million women globally.

The World Health Organization classifies four categories of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C)- clitiroidectomy; excision (of considerable variation of female genital tissue); infibulation (excising the clitoris and labia and stitching together the edges of the vulva to prevent sexual intercourse) and finally mutilation beyond even these classifications.