Female genital mutilation refers to a variety of mutilating operations performed on the external genitalia of girls and women. Usually the practice is conducted on young girls of seven to fifteen who are preparing for marriage. The degree of mutilation varies: circumcision (Sunna), the removal of part or all of the clitoris; excision, the removal of part or all of the clitoris and the labia minora; infibulation (sealing), the almost complete removal of the clitoris and of the labia minora and majora, following which the vagina is sewn up to leave only a small opening

Although the severity of the effects on health varies according to the degree of mutilation, the practice is a major health problem. Immediate effects include shock, retention of urine and of menstrual blood with attendant infections, and infections resulting from the operation itself, which is often performed with unsterilized and inadequate equipment. Short term complications include tetanus, septicaemia, haemorrhages, cuts in the urethra, bladder, vaginal walls and anal sphincter. Later the woman may suffer scars that hinder walking for life, cyst formation, fistulas, sterility, and pelvic and chronic urinary infections. Almost all sexually mutilated women have hugely increased agony and difficulties in labour, incision of the vulva generally being necessary. The higher danger in childbirth greatly increases the chance of premature death

The custom of sexual mutilation of young girls is a violation of the right of the child to be protected from bodily harm and mutilation. There is no religious basis for female sexual mutilation, and the practice is found in communities of different religions, namely Muslim, Christian and polytheistic communities. The practice is rooted in cultural heritage as a way to prepared girls for adulthood. The cultural importance can be so great that a girl who does not undergo the operation at puberty could bring shame to her family, and could be consider unclean, impure, and probably a prostitute; she might never be considered marriageable and thus would have no future in her own community. A girl who does undergo the operation, however, would probably have poorer health and would never be able to enjoy sexual relations (to a similar degree as uncut women) with her husband when she does marry

It is claimed that the practice can be traced back to ancient Egypt. In the mid nineteenth century, the practice was advocated in Britain as a cure for hysteria, nymphomania, masturbation, melancholia, mania, epilepsy and other "female afflictions" which women were prone to in those times, causing many to be committed to asylums. For some it was a fashionable operation

It is estimated that as many as 114 million girls and women in over 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia and western countries suffer the physical and psychological complications resulting from female genetical mutilation. An estimated 80 million of these are in Africa, where it is most common in a continuous belt crossing the middle of Africa from west to east and continuing down the Nile; it includes more than 27 countries. Approximately three quarters of all women mutilated in this way can be found in five countries: Nigeria; Ethiopia; Egypt; the Sudan and Kenya. In some countries - Djibouti, Somalia, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, and the Sudan - more than 80% of all girls are estimated to suffer genital mutilation. For example, 70% of female children are genitally mutilated in the Gambia. In Djibouti, it is estimated that 95% of the women are infibulated, and that in the Sudan and Somalia nine out of ten women are circumcised, although the Sudan, along with Kenya, has laws prohibiting female circumcision. Genital mutilation also is carried out in other countries, including the USA, by immigrants from these countries. Statistics show little reduction in numbers of mutilated women in the last ten years despite increasing awareness of its role as a health problem

This practice is a form of sexual oppression, designed and perpetuated to deny women normal sexual expression and enjoyment. Mutilation does serve its purpose of decreasing the sexual urges of a woman, but only because it makes any sexual act extremely painful for her. Female circumcision often results in bleeding during intercourse and the use of anal intercourse in the first 3 to 9 months of marriage, until the vagina is open enough to permit penetration. This may be the cause of widespread incidence of AIDS among heterosexuals in cultures that practice female circumcision

Female genital mutilation prolongs a girl's virginity, which is desirable in traditional communities