Stop female genital mutilation Twenty-six U.S. states still do not prohibit it, including Pennsylvania

When immigrants from around the world come to the shores of America, they bring with them wonderful culinary and artistic traditions. But some also bring traditions that are barbaric and inhumane. One such practice, prevalent in Africa and parts of the Middle East and Asia, is female genital mutilation. It is now being practiced clandestinely in this country.

The underlying reason for the procedure, all the cultural mumbo jumbo aside, is an attempt by patriarchal societies to control women. Men in those societies say women are precious and need to be protected from bad influences. Incidentally, that includes education.

They tie a woman’s “honor” with the honor of the family. A woman brings disgrace to the family if she willingly betrays the confidence the family places in her.

Most of the time, betrayal takes the form of romantic involvement with a young man. Young women have been killed for disgracing their families. In some cases, the punishment is meted out in public. I’ve never heard of a son being killed by his father for violating a woman’s honor or even being subjected to punishment.

Female genital mutilation also is known as female circumcision or female genital cutting. The idea is to remove all or part of the clitoris in the belief that it will eliminate or reduce sexual urges in pre-pubescent and pubescent girls. In 2016, according to UNICEF, 200 million women living in 30 countries — Indonesia, Iraqi Kurdistan, Yemen and 27 African countries — were subjected to FGM.

The extent of cutting varies according to the country or the ethnicity of the girls. The spectrum involves removal of the clitoral hood, removal of clitoral glans and removal of inner and outer labia. In cases where labia are removed, the opening is sutured shut except for a small hole for the passage of urine and menstrual fluid. At the time of marriage, the girls undergo another procedure to widen the aperture for intercourse, and it is further widened at childbirth. In most places, cutting is done around the age of 5. This is an ugly and barbaric version of the chastity belt.

Mutilations were practiced in the Nile Valley during the times of the pharaohs. It is a tribal, patriarchal tradition practiced by people of diverse religious backgrounds, including Muslims, Christians and followers of traditional African religions.

These procedures can have severe short- and long-term consequences. Physical effects such as genital deformities and scarring aside, they have psychological effects. A small number of studies have shown that many victims suffer from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2013, an analysis of 12,671 patients of FGM from different countries showed that women who were subjected to genital cutting were twice as likely to have no desire for sex. More than half of the women said sex was physically painful.

Thanks to the United Nations, FGM has been outlawed in many countries where it had been practiced widely. However, in a patriarchal society, there are not enough men to take up the cause for the health and welfare of women. Hence, it is remains widely practiced.

In Egypt, Mali, Mauritania and Guinea, most people consider the practice to be a religious obligation, even though there is no religious basis for it. Male circumcision is not a religious requirement in these countries.

The Supreme Council of Islamic Research at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the oldest seat of Sunni Islam, has declared that the practice of female genital mutilation has “no basis in core Islamic Law or any of its partial provisions.”

In the U.S., mutilation under the age of 18 is against the law. As of 2015, 24 U.S. states have specific laws against the practice. West Virginia is among them; Pennsylvania and Ohio are not.

It would come as a surprise to many that medically sanctioned removal of the clitoris has been practiced in the United States and Europe since the 1800s. It was done for a grab bag of “ailments,” including masturbation, hysteria, nymphomania, excessive sexual desire, lesbianism, lack of orgasm during traditional intercourse and a number of other conditions considered abnormal or immoral at the time. Blue Cross health insurance covered the procedure until 1977.

When cultural and tribal traditions masquerade as religious practice, it is hard to eradicate them. Progress, however, is being made, and the incidence of female genital mutilation is declining in societies where it is endemic.