1. Monica wrote:

This is such a serious issue affecting our global family. I appreciate your willingness to give voice to the struggle, and for such a graphic image of what’s going on.

2. Marc Lamont Hill wrote:

yes. PLEASE explain the conflict to me. i can’t think of a circumstance under which this would make sense…

3. sumai wrote:

why does it happens?

does it happens peroidecally?

4. skirt flipping up wrote:

skirt flipping up…

Very actual information about skirt flipping up….

5. Max Roach wrote:

…and yet I bet all of you commenting and complaining are for male circumcision…….

6. M Smith wrote:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME. CULTURE, TRADITION OR WHATEVER THE HELL YOU ARE TRYING TO CALL IT MISS MARTIN. YOU AND YOUR DAMM CULTURE ARE SICK!!!! WHAT KIND OF ANIMALS CUT UP A SMALL CHILD AND LET THEM BLEED AND SCREAMING IN PAIN. THEN MOST LIKELY INFECTION AND POSSIBLY DEATH. THE HELL WITH YOU AND YOUR SICK TRADITIONS. IT’S SICK, SICK, SICK.

7. M Smith wrote:

ARE YOU KIDDING ME. CULTURE, TRADITION OR WHATEVER THE HELL YOU ARE TRYING TO CALL IT MISS MARTIN. YOU AND YOUR DAMM CULTURE ARE SICK!!!! WHAT KIND OF ANIMALS CUT UP A SMALL CHILD AND LET THEM BLEED AND SCREAMING IN PAIN. THEN MOST LIKELY INFECTION AND POSSIBLY DEATH. THE HELL WITH YOU AND YOUR SICK TRADITIONS. IT’S SICK, SICK, SICK.

8. karina wrote:

Ola a todos meu nome é karina tenho 119 amos sou do Brasil moro em Belo Horizonte MInas Gerais

È um absordo q em pleno sec XXI ainda aja este tipo de cultura absurda, o ato de corta a genitaria!
isto é um absordo!

9. tyeisha wrote:

i will pray each day for these victims,i’ve tried to find out as much as i can about this horror.GOD HAVE MERCY!

10. Gabriel Paye wrote:

This is real. I am not a member but this is exactly what happens during the circumcision.
In my country people pay to undergo this operation. It’s a secret society, I don’t detail information because i’m not allowed to.

11. Kristen Jackson wrote:

i have been doing research on the subject of F.G.M. and it has brought me to your site. i have read up on the complete process of F.G.M. and am completely horrified by what some women of traditional cultures have to endure. I am doing a debate in my cross cultural psychology course in college and the subject is F.G.M. as interesting and horrifying as is this subject i still feel pulled to find the numbers and the pain and the emotional breaking point of each woman that goes through each varying stage of F.G.M. and i also wanted to say thank you for your help with the information you have posted on this site.

12. Kimamia wrote:

Need not be horrified yet! After the cut there usually more> some communities stitch the Virgina leaving a very small hole where the urine is supposed to pass through> The girl is supposed to stay this way to preserve her virginity> On the wedding day The women who removes the stitches have no time for niceties and pampering> neither is the husband to be who is in urgent need of tasting the goodies>>>>you need not watch a horror movie

13. Stephanie wrote:

i’m a 15 year old girl. At school I learn all about this in Geography. Yes, it is sick. But you can’t blame the children for not knowing any better. I’m not saying I agree that Female Genital Mutilation should be happening. but think about it. these people in generations have grown up like this, grown up knowing this as their religion. they cant speak up for what they want, they will be hurt or treated as if they have commited a murder. yes i definatley think this is something wrong to do, and i cant believe that these children can under-go the pain, not only physically but emotionally, they are awake during the whole thing, though some pass out from the unbearable pain. I could not imagine going through the pain these young girls go through. and then going through the pain of it again in sex and after having a child. i mean they are cut/circumsized with a rusty razor blade that has been used on heaps and heaps of girls. its horrible…i hope many people have read my thoughts on this and take this into account. im not a stupid immature 15yr old. i care about what happens to the young girls.

14. Carmel Pennington wrote:

I feel sick! This is disgusting and wrong!

15. Carmel Pennington wrote:

I feel sick! This is disgusting and wrong! I cant believe things like this even happen anymore, i am truly truly shocked my this.

16. barb wrote:

This had to have been started by insecure, controlling, sadistic men so long ago that people forgot it’s origins. Anyone who would condone this is so pathetically ignorant that I don’t know if therewould be any way to reach them. These poor children must feel completely and utterly betrayed by those that aresupposed to be their protctors and nurturers. I guess it would have such a profound effect on you that you would lose any ability to trust, or develope an ability to truly be stong enough to rationalize the insanity behind this, or perhaps the ability to even truly love and protect your own child. I am so sad for these children and this sadistic ignorant culture. It is truly sickening.

17. J wrote:

Yeah go and mutilate men in the same way and I bet it’d be a problem.A world that cant let a woman enjoy the pleasure allowed to a man is not worthy of existence.Sick ass fucks!

18. paul wrote:

why is it ok for baby boys to be circumcised for religious beliefs but not girls? both would be painful, neither have a say in whats happening, should both forms of circumcision be stoppped then?

19. trisha wrote:

I completely agree “J”!!!!!! This is a horrifying practice that is unbelievably going on in our world. It is yet another attempt to control women and their sexuality. UGHH it makes me SO mad! My heart goes out to these women who keep the practice alive due to ignorance and the young girls who must endure it. Keep spreading the information so that we can someday rid ourselves of this awful tradition.

20. mourine audi wrote:

I reccently attended a workshop by KEFEADO and EASSI organisations on anti-FGM advocacy and what i learnt was shocking. I had to do more research on my own and that’s how i landed on your site. It is such an inhuman practise and to think that the perpetrators are women, it is unforgivable! They should be condeming the act since most if not all have undergone the pains of labour and they know what it feels like. We sure are living in a sick world.

21. lyala wrote:

i am female of african origin,and yes i was subjected to this barbaric tradition when i was 4 years old along with my older sisters. i got realy sick lost alot of blood and my mum feared i was going to die. back home this is not frowned upon infact i remember my neighbour looking foward to getting circumisised because that would mean she would be one of us.We were conditioned into accepting it as part of who we are. but many many years later and im still affected by it, incredibly painful periods every month is a reminder and fear of intimacy, not to mention the anxiety and panic attacks i suffer every time i think about having kids and a family, i had a aunt who passed away at childbirth due to complications and i cant help but think this is what awaits me. normal woman look forward to having babies of their own. but for me these thoughts leave in a flood of tears and alot answered questions. later i learned that my father was completly against the idea and he and my mother separated for a while,he blamed her for putting us through uneccessary pain, but my mother was only doing what she thought was right, and lets remember it was done to her, and all the women before. Though life is hard for me at times i try to get on with it.
i have younger sisters and knowing that they will never go through what me and the women before me went through kind of eases the pain.

22. D Morse wrote:

This is a response for those that are compairing this to male circumcision. There is NO compairision. Male circumcision is the removal of extra skin that IS NOT required for sexual or urinary function. It is a small incision that removes skin only. FGM removes body parts necessary for female sexual stimulation, it removes skin, tissue, and a large amount of nerves. It inopperably damages a womans ability to enjoy sex, it also damages the urethra where urine passes, and it gives rise to numerous and serious complications during childbirth. The equivalent of this for a man would not be male circumcision as we know it, but to cut half of the penis off and one of the testicles would be a more accurate description. So, my point is this, for those of you argueing “why is it okay for a man but not for a woman” …the answer is simply this; it is not circumcision, it is mutilation. It is wrong to mutilate any human being.

23. Quraisha wrote:

This is really sick,y does this hapn 2 woman,girls,we need 2 stop this abuse

24. Hadassah wrote:

I APPRECIATE THAT EVERYONE IS QUITE DISGUSTED AND CONCERNED. HOWEVER, YOUR EMOTIONS SHOULD NOT BE VENTED UPON ANYONE HERE; AFTER ALL THIS IS A FORUM TO HEIGHTEN AWARENESS, NOT TO JUSTIFY THAT WHICH IS UNJUSTIFIABLE. THAT SAID, KINDLY USE YOUR PASSIONS IN A WAY THAT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE!! JOIN UP WITH GROUPS LIKE UNICEF (ALTHOUGH I DON’T APPRECIATE THEIR STANCE ON ABORTION ENTIRELY) THEY ARE A GREAT ALLIANCE AND A FANBTASTIC GROUP DEDICATED TO MAKING TRUE CHANGES. WORLD HEALTH IS ANOTHER. PLEASE DIRECT YOUR PASSIONS INTO ACTION, ELSE THEY ARE WASTED AS “MEANINGLESS WORDS BY SPOILED AMERICANS…” THAT IS HOW THEY WILL BE VIEWED. MAKE A DIFFERENCE. DON’T JUST TALK. PLEASE. BE AN ADVOCATE FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES. USE YOUR FREEDOM FOR SOMETHING USEFUL.

25. lidia zuniga wrote:

i think fgm..is f*cking wrong, i never thought something like this existed. THis should be taking serious , not in my concern but in the well being of those women , some of them are just little girls. why?, is it even done.my heart breaks just to even think about the harsh cruelty its been done.

26. arlo wrote:

paul

Male circumcision is much different than this so-called female circumcision. For males, only the foreskin is removed. For females, the whole clitoris is removed, along with the foreskin, and the outer labia are sometimes sewed together. This would be analogous to cutting off a man’s entire penis, and tucking whatever else was left into his scrotum. How does that sound for you?

27. zoe wrote:

i find this sickning, after hours of reasearch for a piece of college course work i have found that this is happening 2 children age 1 sometimes under, how can something like this still be happening????????? mindless thoughtless idiots that r letting it. this world is sick.

28. Malik wrote:

I’m a 14 year old male and I have discussed this topic in my ACL (Art Creates Life) class. Personally I think the people that can commit these crimes are truly sick and twisted people and they need mental help, I believe that if you can cut a child’s genitalia, listen to her screams, and watch her endure so much pain you are heartless and cold. I dont care if you were raised that way, if you were laying there having your genitals cut and violated and you perform these task you must have enjoyed it, you are a huge deviant, and a jerk. I hate these types of people and I pray that they rot in hell for all eternity because F.G.M. is sick and perverted. I hope that this so-called tradition is outlawed for good and I thank this website for shedding light on this topic

29. hannah.. wrote:

Dude!!! Now this is extreme,, your fannys should be left alone the way they are as obviously that is the way they are ment to be otherwise they wouldnt be like that!! Duh!

30. Cynthia M wrote:

i was researching foot binding and thought it looked horrid and painful but this is far much worse due to the location. it is already worse enough to what females have to go through. thank heavens that they have abolished these useless so called traditions and realized the side effects. Lyala is right most mothers do what they think is best for their children thinking it would teach them obedience and life skills but only make people sour and hateful

31. Zach wrote:

what makes male circumcision any different than female??! both genders go through extreme pain with a sharp knive and are left with something that was not there before. nature made us the way we are, who gives some fucking stupid doctor the right to touch an infant like that. its sexual abuse! please google male infant circumcision and watch and listen as a helpless baby screams for its life. the foreskin is esential for sexual function just like parts on a female are esential for sexual function. both acts are wrong and are a violation of human rights without consent of the person who is being multilated. this needs to be stoped now.

32. keri wrote:

i am a female and i believe male circumcision is wrong (as well as, of course, female circumcision). i think it is quite wrong to put a little baby boy through that. so much can go wrong. one, it is painful & he can get infections. another is that they don’t provide him with any pain reliever. actually, my friend just had a little boy and they asked if she wanted him circumcised and she said no because it was unnecessary pain and the nurse said, “oh, we’ll give him some sugar water for his pain” and my friend was like, “wtf?!! how about i cut off parts of your body and give you some sugar water for the pain!?!” another thing is there are cases where circumcisions have gone WAY wrong and they’ve cut off parts of the actual penis. i saw a documentary of this boy who was a victim of this & his doctor told his parents to raise him as a girl and never tell him what happened and his twin brother was raised as a boy. it did NOT work. in fact, that boy killed himself after the documentary was made (when he was an adult).

as far as sexual function… if you remove his foreskin it makes sex less enjoyable for him because it dramatically reduces sensitivity. he will probably be able to last longer but only because it won’t feel as good to him as it would if he was able to feel it the way that he was meant to feel it. so if you value your son’s future sexual enjoyment then you should not circumcise him.

i don’t know any uncircumcised adult male who would go through with the proceedure.

remember… you can always cut it off later, but you cannot undo a cirucumcision.

i have two little brothers. one circumcised and one not. the uncircumcised one did NOT suffer any health problems as a result of not being cut.

33. Irma wrote:

If God intended us to be circumcised He would have made us born that way. It is totally unnecessary surgery and it should be forbidden all over the World. For both boys and girls.
The argument of hygiene is a lie because if circumcision was necessary to prevent infections all the men in Europe would have infected penisses. I am a 46 year old Dutch woman, married for 24 years, mother of 2 sons and a daughter and I have never seen or heard of an infected penis. Stop mutilating your children!

34. Ricky wrote:

Where did you get this picture from?

35. jellyfishattack wrote:

As far as I’m concerned, anyone who mutilates a child or forces a woman to get this done deserves to be shot dead.

I’ve got a nice bridge in Brooklyn to sell any daughter who believes that their mother mutilated them because she ‘thought it was the right thing to do’. How could any woman who’d gone through this horror herself – not to mention the subsequent ripping open for sex and delivery possibly think it was proper – even if she had an IQ of 12?

36. Erica wrote:

Male circumcision is nothing close to the same and I absolutely don’t believe the pain is the same. I had my son circumcised when he was born and the doctor said he didn’t even flinch or make a sound. So tell me this if the pain of male circumcision is equal to female than why didn’t a two day old infant that is not used to pain make a sound? Neither the pain nor the procedure is equal. Like others have said male circumcision removes skin only and don’t say it affects male’s sexual experiences because it is obvious majority of circumcised men have absolutely no problem in orgasming. Where research shows a large number of woman are not able to climax without their clitoris. Female mutilation removes skin, the entire clitoris, and parts of the labia. She is then sewn up with an opening the circumference of a pencil for urinine and menstruation. She is then slightly cut open for intercourse after marriage and opened more for childbirth and then sewn again and opened again for each subsequent birth. Men have NEVER gone through such horrific “traditons” or “rituals”.

37. miker wrote:

Having your clit removed is equal to having the tip of your penis removed. Sure in time you could have an orgasm but its going to be much weaker.. But hey thats not the point.

Africa is not an advanced nation, despite the influx of european and asian tech into the country, socialy its no where as advanced as their ancestors living right here in the US and other Advanced countries.

Is it up to the rest of the advanced world to tell them what to do? Is it up to us to take so many of them in despite their unadvanced social ways. You got to keep in mind this is a part of their culture and my golly some are going to do what they have to do to maintain it.

Simply put stop taking in stray unadvanced ” socialy” people.

38. Jenna wrote:

Can men please to relating this horrible thing to male circumcision? The penis has EXCESS skin, and it causes no pain in the adult years, plus most women prefer a circumcised penis. The vulva is not excess skin. The labia protect the opening of the vagina; if removed it will also cause pain for the rest of that woman’s life (if it is done so barbarically as shown here) and I doubt any man can say they would prefer a mangled and bloodied vagina compared to that of a healthy woman. Such a monstrous thing happens to those poor girls, it is appalling how grisly those men can be.

39. Seravy wrote:

I don’t understand why some people just automatically assume discussion of FGM means disregard for MGM. Why can’t the assumption be that as reasonable humans, we are all concerned about all forms of genital mutilations but the focus of the article just happens to be on FGM.

If an article is about heart disease, one would not jump in and demand to know where’s the concern for lung cancer. Research male circumcision and there’ll be plenty of information and sympathy there for that subject. This article is on FGM. nothing wrong with staying on topic.