Female Circumcision: Religious Obligation or Cultural Deviation?

Abstract

Throughout history female sexuality has provoked controversy and led to its being repressed in a variety of ways in all parts of the world. For example, the widows of deceased Pharaohs were buried alive to make sure that they would not be able to have relations with another man.1 Also, it has been stated that in ancient Rome, female slaves had rings put through their labia majora to discourage them from getting pregnant. In twelfth-century Europe, chastity belts were widely used. Only one century ago, clitoridectomy was performed as a surgical remedy against masturbation in both Europe and the United States. Currently, cruel and inhumane genital surgery continues to take place in different parts of the world, a practice commonly known as female genital mutilation (FGM).2