Health

For Kurdish Girls, a Painful Ancient Ritual

by 158 | January 1, 2009 at 11:35 am

385 views | 18 Recommendations | 11 comments

ry Sheelan's CircumcisionA seven-year-old girl is taken by her mother to be circumcised in Kurdish Iraq, where more than 60 percent of women have undergone the traditional and controversial procedure.»

Sheelan Anwar Omer, a shy 7-year-old Kurdish girl, bounded into her neighbor's house with an ear-to-ear smile, looking for the party her mother had promised.
There was no celebration. Instead, a local woman quickly locked a rusty red door behind Sheelan, who looked bewildered when her mother ordered the girl to remove her underpants. Sheelan began to whimper, then tremble, while the women pushed apart her legs and a midwife raised a stainless-steel razor blade in the air. "I do this in the name of Allah!" she intoned.

As the midwife sliced off part of Sheelan's genitals, the girl let out a high-pitched wail heard throughout the neighborhood. As she carried the sobbing child back home, Sheelan's mother smiled with pride.

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generaldecay

at 12:01 on January 1st, 2009

I saw these photographs and read the story the other day. Words do not describe how barbaric this tradition is. And it shows no signs of stopping.

Pythiian1

at 13:31 on January 1st, 2009

It's unfortunate that this inhumane cultural practice has persisted as it affected countless females in some countries in the Middle East, and some in Africa, in addition to the Kurds as mentioned above.

158

at 13:41 on January 1st, 2009

I agree with both of you. It is barbaric and should be stopped by law, with severe penalties. It should be stopped now, not later.

Pythiian1

at 21:10 on January 1st, 2009

I understand your views, but the unfortunate fact is that it is not so easy to "stop" part of a cultural and religious practice in each of these countries. A male family member can kill a female family member if she's caught to have done something to shame her family. It's called honor killing.

In some countries, women have begun to discuss the eradication of the practice of female genital mutilation and honor killing.

generaldecay

at 01:56 on January 2nd, 2009

You're right, Pythiian. It is notoriously difficult to eradicate such practices in cultures like this.

158

at 10:23 on January 2nd, 2009

Good point.

And as the story points out women are the ones continuing this tradition.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 06:11 on January 2nd, 2009

It often occurs to me when I read a story related to female circumcision, that the same attention is not given to male circumcision.

From wiki, "Opposition to circumcision":

"the unnecessary removal of a functioning body organ in the name of tradition, custom or any other non-disease related cause should never be acceptable to the health profession." "...such interventions are violations of individual bodily rights and "a breach of fundamental medical ethics principles"

United States Circumcision Incidence, here.

158

at 10:24 on January 2nd, 2009

Thanks for the links.

Rhonda J Mangus

at 18:35 on January 2nd, 2009

You are very welcome, 158.

Barbara McPherson

at 14:32 on January 9th, 2009

Our BC medical insurance no longer pays for infant circumcision. There is some evidence that circumcised males have a lower incidence of penile cancer.