PRISONERS OF RITUAL:

SOME CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

by Hanny Lightfoot !"#in This paper was presented at the Second International Symposium on Circumcision in San Francisco, April-30 - May 3, 1991 Female genital circumcision is ubiquitous at all levels of society in many countries of Africa. It is also practiced, more or less sporadically, in other continents of the world. In Africa alone, along an uninterrupted belt across the center of the continent and along the length of the Nile, an estimated 60 !0,000,000 women are circumcised. Female circumcision is an ancient blood ritual that e"ists in a variety of severities. Among some peoples, part or all of the clitoris is cut away. In others, the procedure further includes the ablation of the small and#or large labia. $he most drastic operations are found along the %orn of Africa, in Northern and central &udan, &outhern 'gypt, ()ibouti, &omalia, parts of *enya and 'thiopia. %ere all of the above surgeries are inflicted. In addition, the s+in of the outer labia is scraped clean of its inner tissue, and is then sewn together over the wound, so that only a tiny opening, intended to be barely adequate for passing urine and menstrual fluid, remains. $his widely practiced procedure is called infibulation or ,haraonic circumcision. -hile clitoridectomy and e"cision of the inner labia are found among Africans with a variety of religious and cultural orientations, infibulation appears almost e"clusively among Islamic peoples. Infibulation is best described as a regional rather than a religious practice, however, since it is generally not found in an estimated .0/ of the world0s 1oslems $he medical and psychic consequences of infibulation in particular may be devastating and lifelong. No accurate statistics on this are available or perhaps even possible in &udan, where most of my research was carried out. $his is a region of Africa, which, given its apparently insurmountable geographic and social features, has so far defied all attempts at development. 1edical estimates of fatalities among girls sub)ected to the procedures in that

region, however, are quite high, and vary from 20 to 30 percent. &ince cultural prohibitions do not allow people to spea+ about dead children, these estimates must suffice. A high death rate is to be e"pected, in view of the fact that most circumcisions are still carried out among a populace without anesthesia or antibiotics, with rudimentary, unsterile instruments such as ra4ors, scissors or +itchen +nives. $he operators are more often than not medically untrained older women, often with defective eyesight, and the operation is performed on the earthen floors of huts, under lighting conditions that are inadequate to any surgical procedure. 'ven when the operation is carried out by medically trained midwives or nurses under what passes for sterile conditions and with the use of local analgesics and antibiotics, it is still e"ceedingly ha4ardous. As may be e"pected, the immediate complications most commonly seen are hemorrhage, shoc+ due to intolerable and prolonged pain, infection, tetanus and retention of urine due to occlusion. 5ater complications resulting from a tight infibulation generally involve difficult and painful urination, urinary infections resulting from debris collecting behind the infibulation, a damming up of menstrual blood in virgins, inclusion cysts and fistulae. At marriage, the infibulation must be torn, stretched or cut open by the bridegroom, and then prevented from healing shut. $his agoni4ingly painful procedure may ta+e wee+s or even months to complete. 6iving birth is fraught with mortal danger for both the infibulated woman and her infant, due to the inelasticity of her infibulation scar, which prevents dilation beyond four of the ten centimeters required to pass the fetal head. $he infibulation must therefore be cut in an anterior direction and after birth has ta+en place, it must be resutured. Frequently seen psychological complications include severe, recurrent an"iety, depression and a generali4ed phobic state. $hese tend to manifest themselves at various stress points in a woman0s life, such as the period preceding circumcision, at menarche, before and for some time after marriage, and with the birth of each child. A severely depressed self image, lac+ of confidence, feelings of se"ual inadequacy and worthlessness, repressed rage and anorgasmia have also been observed. 75ightfoot *lein, 2!.!, p.608 -hile there are quite a few theories on the origins of female se"ual mutilation, no one actually +nows when, how or why it began. -hile there are theories which argue that female circumcision antedates male circumcision, one researcher 7(avis 2!96,p.2:.8 observes that female circumcision, along with hymenolatry, occurs only in very restricted areas of the world predominantly &emitic, Islamic and ;hristian countries. &he maintains that the more ancient a custom or belief, the more universally it is found.

;ompared to penis mutilation, the couvade, and male circumcision, whose ubiquity give testimony to the antiquity of those practices, therefore, the relative spatial restrictiveness of female circumcision argues for its more recent innovation. $he rationale for female circumcision seems to be consistent in most African societies, and is based for the most part on myth, an ignorance of biological and medical facts, and religion. $he clitoris is perceived variously as repulsive, filthy, foul smelling, dangerous to the life of the emerging newborn, and ha4ardous to the health and potency of the husband. As is also the case with male genital mutilation in our own culture, female genital mutilation is often believed to carry with it a persuasive array of health benefits. It is believed to ma+e conception and child bearing easier, to prevent acutely dreaded malodorous vaginal discharges, prevent all manner of sic+ness, vaginal parasites and the contamination of mother0s mil+. ;ircumcision, and specifically infibulation, is believed to reduce the se"ual drive 7they do not8, and to protect women not only from aggressive males 7they also do not8 but from her own rampant se"uality and irresistible inborn drive toward total promiscuity. It is believed in the &udan that the clitoris will grow to the length of a goose0s nec+ until it dangles between the legs, in rivalry with the male0s penis, if it is not cut. $his concept engenders so much revulsion and an"iety in men that they would not under any circumstances consider marrying an uncircumcised or <unclean< girl. &ince marriage and childbearing are as yet virtually the only options open to most African women 7aside from prostitution in the urban areas8, this leaves them little choice but to submit to the practice and to impose it on their daughters. Alternative economic options for women, coupled with a more rational se" education, might very well begin to open the way to their eventual re)ection of this bloody ritual. $here have been various reports on female circumcision throughout the ages. $he first historical reference to it can be found in the writings of %erodotus, who reported its e"istence in ancient 'gypt in the :th century =.;. %e was of the opinion that the custom had originated in 'thiopia or 'gypt, as it was being performed by 'thiopians as well as ,hoenicians and %ittites 7$aba, A.%., 2!9!8. A 6ree+ papyrus in the =ritish 1useum dated 263 =.;. mentions circumcisions performed on girls at the age when they received their dowries. >arious authors have shown that female circumcision was practiced as well by early ?omans and Arabs. In some groups it appears to have been a mar+ of distinction, in others a mar+ of enslavement and sub)ugation.

From its probable origins in 'gypt and the Nile >alley, female circumcision is thought to have diffused to the ?ed &ea coastal tribes, along with Arab traders, and from there into eastern &udan. 71odawi, &., 2!9@8 $here are various reports on the practice of infibulation by a number of 2.th century travelers, who observed its performance on slave girls by slave traders along the Nile. 7-idstrand, 2!6:A ;loudsley, 2!.38 Niebuhr, the sole survivor of the first 'uropean scientific e"pedition to Arabia and 'gypt reported on female circumcision in 2969. &ir ?ichard =urton, the noted =ritish 2!th century e"plorer, lectured e"tensively on the sub)ect of se"uality among what he described as primitive ,eoples. %e noted that while the intent of the custom was to dampen the female se"ual drive, its effect was often quite the opposite. %e came to the conclusion that e"cision of the clitoris and labia rendered women more lascivious but far less easily satisfied. <$he moral effect of female circumcision is peculiar,< writes =urton, <while it diminishes the heat of passion, it increases licentiousness and breeds a debauchery of mind far worse 7sic8 than bodily unchastity.< 7=urton, ?., 2!:@, p.20.8 'fforts by ;hristian missionaries to persuade tribal leaders to abandon female circumcision met with no visible success anywhere in Africa. Attempts by =ritish colonial governments in &udan and *enya to legislate the custom out of e"istence also failed dismally. 'urope, meanwhile, had its own history of controlling women0s se"uality by a variety of means. $hese need only be noted briefly here. Female slaves in ancient ?ome had rings threaded through their labia to prevent them from becoming pregnant. ;rusaders brought the chastity belt to 'urope during the twelfth century. Bntil rather recently, clitoridectomy was the surgical <remedy< for masturbation in >ictorian 'ngland and even more recently in the Bnited &tates. 7Assad, N., 2!9!, p.2C8, 7-allerstein, '., 2!.0, p.2938 $he methods used to repress female se"uality throughout history up to the present have been many, and have e"tended worldwide. 5erner 72!.6, p.23!8 observes that in ancient 1esopotamia, the ;ode of %ammurabi mar+s the beginning of the institutionali4ation of the patriarchal family. From 2C:0 =.;. on, public veiling and the se"ual control of women have been essential features of patriarchy. Bnder this code, fathers were empowered to treat the virginity of their daughters as a family property asset. $his system and others li+e it also divides women into classes of <respectable<, which is to say conforming, male protected and chaste women, and <disreputable< or unprotected, low class and slave women. $hose women who benefited by securing their own safety and, more poignantly, the safety of their children, or those who strove to benefit, not only bowed to the system, but became its staunchest advocates.

&imilarly, in present day African patriarchal societies, female circumcision is carried out on their daughters and granddaughters, by those same women who have themselves suffered the mutilation in childhood. 1oreover, it is staunchly defended by women as a rite that is absolutely essential to the physical health and deportment if these girls, and to the social standing of the family in the community. $hey tenaciously adhere to these same practices, even in those countries where they are now forbidden by law, such as &udan, 'gypt and *enya. Dlayin+a *oso $homas0 72!.98 observation on the current status of the practices in most regions of Africa is pertinent here. &he declares that <the eradication of female circumcision mustEinvolve the social, religious and cultural transformation of certain communities, rather than overturning or uprooting this base by rapid decrees, because the legislative attempts of the past, which were aimed at prohibiting it, did not succeed.< 'fua 6raham, of the -omen0s Action 6roup in 6reat =ritain views the prospects for rapid change even more blea+ly. 6iven the poor economic situation facing many African states in recent times, she says, many legislators would undoubtedly see female genital mutilation as a non issue. &he goes on to say thatF <'ven the African women in the health profession see it as a non issue. -e need to educate people at grass root level.< 7Dgamien, 2!..8 Get among other African intellectuals, some strong voices have been raised, questioning these ancient blood rituals. Nawal 'l &aadawi, an Islamic 'gyptian physician whose outspo+en pronouncements on matters of female se"uality have on occasion landed her in prison, is representative of the best of them. 7&aadawi, N.'l, 2!.C, p.CC:8. I submit here a quote from her writingsF <In the face of all these strange and complicated procedures aimed at preventing se"ual intercourse in women e"cept if controlled by the husband, it is natural that we should as+ ourselves why women in particular were sub)ected to such torture and cruel suppression. $here seems to be no doubt that society, as represented by its dominant classes and male structure, reali4ed at a very early stage that se"ual desire in the female is very powerful, and that women, unless controlled and sub)ugated by all sorts of measures, will not submit themselves to the moral, social, legal and religious constraints related to monogamy. $he patriarchal system, which came into being when society had reached a certain stage of development and which necessitated the imposition of one husband on the woman, whereas a man was left free to have several wives, would never have been possible or have been maintained to this day without the whole range of cruel and ingenious devices that were used to

+eep her se"uality in chec+, and limit her se"ual relations to only one man, who had to be her husband. $his is the reason for the implacable enmity shown by society toward female se"uality, and the weapons used to resist and sub)ugate the turbulent force inherent in it. $he slightest leniency manifested in facing this 0potential danger0 meant that woman would brea+ out of the prison bars behind which the marriage confined her, and step over the steely limits of a monogamous relationship to a forbidden intimacy with another man, which would inevitably lead to confusion in descendence and inheritance, since there would be no guarantee that a strange man0s child would not step into the waiting line of successors. ;onfusion between the children of the legitimate husband and the outside lover would mean the unavoidable collapse of the patriarchal family built around the name of the father alone. %istory shows clearly that the father was +een on +nowing who his real children were, solely for the purpose of handing down his landed property to them. $he patriarchal family therefore came into e"istence mainly for economic reasons. It was necessary for society simultaneously to build up a system of moral and religious values, as well as a legal system capable of protecting and maintaining these economic interests. In the final analysis we can safely say that female circumcision, the chastity belt and other savage practices applied to women are basically the result of economic interests that govern society. $he continued e"istence of such practices in our society signifies that these economic interests are still operative. $he thousands of dayas, nurses, paramedical staff and doctors who ma+e money out of female circumcision naturally resist any change in the values and practices which are a source of gain to them. In the &udan there is a veritable army of dayas who earn a livelihood out of the series of operations performed on women either to e"cise their e"ternal genital organs, or to alternately narrow and widen the outer aperture according to whether the woman is marrying, divorcing, remarrying, or having a child.< $he &udanese procedures to which &aadawi ma+es reference are a relatively recent innovation into the circumcision mystique, in a country where female circumcision and infibulation are already at their most brutal and damaging. It is a practice called 0recircumcision<, in which a woman0s vagina is resutured once more to a pinhole opening after the birth of each child or before remarriage. Bpon resuming se"ual intercourse with her husband, it must then be partially cut or torn open once more to permit penile penetration. Bpon giving birth it must be cut still further to allow the e"pulsion of the foetus. $he reason for this is that a woman0s circumcision scar is too inelastic to allow these events to ta+e place normally, and becomes progressively more so after each operation. As Assad comments, all of this creates economic activity and profit for the legion of midwives and other health professionals who carry out this never ending series of procedures, and who also enthusiastically promote

them. As a consequence, the se"ual mutilation industry flourishes in &udan, much as it does in our own hospitals here in the Bnited &tates. $he e"act origins of the reinfibulation practice are not +nown, although one might safely speculate that they have their roots in the -estern <vaginal tuc+H. At best, it is a bastardi4ation of this e"tremely common and popular -estern procedure. Its intent appears to be to ma+e the most of what is left of a woman0s genitalia after she has been sub)ected to a drastic e"cision. -hat lends substance to such a theory is that reinfibulation originated among such individuals as would be most li+ely to have +nowledge of the tuc+ procedure so popular in the -estern -orld. ?einfibulation first made its appearance among the more traveled urban educated class in the capital, no more than fifty years ago. It has spread rapidly from the urban educated to the uneducated, and from the capital into towns, outposts and villages. Its most fervent advocates are of course the practitioners. $hese enthusiastically urge it upon their an"ious clients as a purported means of giving more se"ual pleasure to a husband. -omen in &udanese culture live with the ever present fear that their husbands will divorce them, will ta+e a second, third or fourth wife, or will consort with prostitutes. All of these cataclysmic possibilities must be guarded against. $hey pose horrendously potent threats in a society where a woman has absolutely no economic recourse, and where she can not own any property aside from the bride price gold that she wears on her body. A divorced woman loses tragically not only in status, property, protection and social life, but must yield her children to her husband as well. (ivorce is ludicrously easy to obtain for any Islamic male. It is to avert these disasters that the &udanese woman submits so willingly to a procedure that can only create yet more pain and physical havoc for her. $he practice fits perfectly into the established hymenolatry of the culture, which in &udan is characteri4ed by the curious concept of renewable virginity through repeated infibulation. ?ecircumcision ma+es a woman <li+e a virgin< once more, and this is believed to give the husband a very unique and special pleasure. &ome women go so far as to have themselves recircumcised periodically even when they have not given birth. ,arenthetically, my most intensive interviews with educated &udanese women present considerable evidence that given the mutilated condition of their genitalia, a severely narrowed introitus enables the woman herself to e"perience more pleasurable se"ual stimulation. -hile +nowledge of this phenomenon is no doubt carefully guarded by women where it concerns the males of the society, it represents an indisputable added selling point for the practitioners. 75ightfoot *lein, 2!.!8

&o far, there is no indication that circumcision practices are dying out to any considerable e"tent. Iuite the contrary. Along with increased population movements of circumcising peoples, including the migration of merchants into outposts, and the placement of civil servants into indigenous areas, the practices have actually spread within recent years. $hey are currently spreading still further into areas where female circumcision has traditionally never been practiced before. $he reasons for this diffusion of the custom also appear to be largely economic. In the event of an intermarriage between circumcising immigrants and non circumcising indigenous peoples, a far more favorable bride price may be obtained by a girl0s family if she is circumcised. ;onsequently, these new, socially less advantaged converts to the custom have come to practice the most e"treme and damaging versions of the procedure in an effort to ma+e their daughters most desirable and optimally mar+etable. $hey proudly refer to these operations as <scraping the girls clean,< and they )ustify their eager acceptance of this custom in the belief that <this is the modern and hygienic way that educated people do it.< 75ightfoot *lein, 2!.!, p.@.8 I am aware of only two clear cut reports of e"ceptions to this lamentable development. Bnfortunately, with such reports it is sometimes difficult to sort out truth from wishful thin+ing. Among the Nigerian Ibo, a considerable decline in the rate of female circumcision in recent decades has been reported by one researcher. A study by 1egafu found that in 2!.3 among a sampling of 2@0 women between the ages of 36 and @:, .:/ were circumcised. =y contrast, this percentage had dwindled to 33/ among a sampling of 2C0 females between the age of 26 and C:. 71egafu, B., 2!.38 %e comments that he is not sure of the reasons for this change, but speculates that -estern influences play a part. Dgunmodede, who reports on this same region, maintains on the other hand, that the custom may be gradually diminishing, but at what seems to be a far slower rate than in 1egafu0s study. &he reports that in areas where the procedures are performed on girls of marriageable age, many run away from their villages in order to avoid being circumcised. A recent newspaper report from 6ermany describes a similar flight of adolescents in Bganda, where female circumcision has only recently been introduced into some areas. &uch escapees are systematically hunted down and delivered, bound, to their villages, where they are then forced by the elders to undergo the rite. In 'thiopia, when the 'ritrean ,eople0s 5iberation Front occupied certain territories between January 2!99 and (ecember 2!9., it successfully opposed female circumcision and forced marriages. $hese practices have apparently not returned, even after the ',5F was forced to retreat from some of these

areas. In fact, the ',5F attracted great numbers of young girls see+ing to avoid the +nife to its ran+s from many other parts of 'thiopia. 7(ines, 1., 2!.08 Dbviously, such resistance to the custom is possible only among peoples who practice circumcision on adolescents or young women. In &udan, &omalia, 'gypt and many other African countries, such an option simply does not e"ist, since circumcision ta+es place there in early childhood, quite frequently before the girl enters school. In fact, there seems to be evidence that in most of Africa, girls are being circumcised at earlier and earlier ages. $he reasons for this are given by the practitionersF KA young child is far easier to manage.H -ithin recent years, due to the increased influ" of African immigrants into 'urope, and of late also into the Bnited &tates, a new problem has developed. ;ircumcisions performed in 'uropean countries by local doctors, by members of a girlLs family or by midwives imported for this purpose have come to the attention of legal authorities, and appear to have become fairly common. In 'ngland it was found that %arley &treet surgeons could be relied upon to perform the procedures for the elite at fancy prices. In &weden a scandal developed when it was discovered that a &wedish surgeon was performing the operation in a &wedish hospital under the &wedish sociali4ed medicine system, at the e"pense of outraged &wedish ta"payers. 75ightfoot *lein, 2!.!, p.@:8 In France and Italy hemorrhaging girls were brought into emergency wards after +itchen +nife e"cisions by family members. It is e"ceedingly li+ely that there have been similar instances in the Bnited &tates as well, but so far none have been officially documented. $he escalating problem now facing all of these -estern countries is thisF Appropriate statutory prohibitions must be enacted, in order to prevent this e"treme form of child abuse from occurring within their borders. -hile African intellectuals of both se"es have become acutely aware that something is intrinsically very wrong indeed with these ancient blood rituals, and they wish to see them abandoned, they bitterly resent -estern interference in their social and personal affairs. In view of the all too recent history of the slave trade and colonialism, it is altogether understandable that their mistrust of -estern motives is deep indeed. $he only help acceptable to them in dealing with this problem would be material aid to programs that are directed by Africans themselves. In &udan, while many young intellectuals declare their intent to begin abolishing the practice by not circumcising their own daughters, a mere handful has good intentions into action. $here is simply too much family

pressure and fear of brea+ing with tradition. $he same scenario has been reported in &omalia. 76rassivaro 6alli and >iviani, 2!..8 $he older, tradition ridden generation of women is generally blamed for this failure to accept change. %owever, since the intellectual climate appears to show some small beginnings of a shift, at least among that handful of the elite that has been e"posed to 'uropean university educations, one might reasonably hope for the stirrings of a modest change within the ne"t decade or two, after the older generation has died out. Get will a ma)or change actually ta+e placeM And how long will it ta+e before this happensM -ill this as yet only hypothetical innovation of leaving girls se"ually intact filter down to the uneducated and to the more remote places in &udan, as the recircumcision practice has doneM $hings being what they are, it is difficult to have much faith that a rapid change for the better is in the wind. In areas of Africa such as &udan, where there are few schools, no paved roads, no electricity, no functioning telephone systems, even less food and water and many, many far more pressing problems, change, whatever its nature may be, happens at a maddeningly slow pace, if it happens at all. In the absence of such horrendous handicaps, in our own technologically advanced and advantaged country, our own setbac+s and frustrations in our fight to abolish routine male circumcision in the Bnited &tates, provide us only with the dimmest concept of the difficulties that must be overcome in Africa -e can hardly afford to flatter ourselves into believing that our earnest efforts so far have created a populist movement among the peoples of Africa to abolish female genital mutilation. As yet, the only evidence of opposition to the practice comes from a minute, albeit dedicated group of African health professionals that are wor+ing bravely toward abolishing these cruel and destructive blood rituals. $heir highly laudable efforts are certainly the first, courageous steps in the right direction, and they deserve our heartfelt support. As far as those of us, who labor in behalf of this worthy cause in the -estern world are concerned, we must loo+ at the situation realistically and to recogni4e that we are very far indeed from having earned any laurels that we can rest upon. $here is a long, hard and weary road yet ahead of us and the end, at this point, is nowhere in sight.

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