Some were five, some six. Suddenly one day, a bunch of ladies came in a celebratory mood and pinned the small, innocent and clueless girls to the floor, spread their legs and cut off their clitoral heads. There would be a loud cheer at having rid of the devil, what makes us sin: now they will not be sinners! But will they lead normal lives henceforth? The girl shouted to the horror of the pain, the bleeding, and the powerlessness but it can never be heard above voices of their community’s customs that went unquestioned all their life.
This dreadful practice is called female genital mutilation or FGM. It has been declared as a violation of human rights and an illegal practice. Globally, there are multiple communities that practice FGM on girls as little as an infant. India however has not seen FGM so rampant. But is it the reality?
The Bohra community located in Mumbai is reported on practicing Female genital mutilation as a tradition. It is customary in this community that when a girl reaches the age of five or six, a ceremony is supposed to be held where the girl’s clitoral head also known as “haram ki boti” aka “immoral lump of flesh” is cut off. It is believed in many communities that female sexuality is something to be feared about and should not be expressed or realised. It is seen as best within conservative societies if women do not acknowledge their sexuality ever in life and in fact, merely remains a sexual object for men to enjoy in any way they like. Therefore, cutting the body part that is a source of pleasure seems to be a “safe bet” to prevent women from enjoying their sexuality because men haven’t conceived it as the biggest sin of all. However, this is just a mutilation that we see on the surface of women’s physical level.
The other dimensions of such a damage is even more horrifying. When we consider the entire process of mutilation, the procedure is highly unregulated and happens without the presence of any medical professional in case something goes awry. Some just use a previously used razor or a heated knife that is not even new, ignoring the infections or bleeding that might follow. There have been cases where the girls bled for a few days and instead of being taken to a doctor, they are just made to wear a sanitary pad and people wait for bleeding to stop by itself. There have been some rare cases where these little girls died because of excessive bleeding or severe blood infections.
The process of FGM or as the Bohra community calls it “khatna” causes a deep emotional damage. For a small girl undergoing this dreadful procedure, it leaves a deep emotional scar. Many women who underwent this process, say that they have never been able to enjoy sex or even be cheerful in life because of this trauma. It is no less than a physical as well as an emotional abuse that is attempted without any imagined and rational reason but just a part of the patriarchal machinations to position women as secondary and without any agency.
In these modern times, when women have the space and agency to speak up, the women who themselves have undergone this process as well as various social activists who rightly consider this practice as the violation of rights of women, have actively taken it up. As the world takes a stand against such a barbaric practice, International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is observed on 6 February every year against the practice of FGM.
In April 2017, a Delhi based lawyer named Sunita Tiwari filed a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) in the Supreme Court to aim at a ban of this horrendous practice of female circumcision. The decision by the Supreme Court is pending but we can definitely hope for a ban of this “violation of right to life and dignity of a woman”
