Female genital mutilation (FGM) refers to all forms of partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other alterations to female genital organs, carried out for cultural or nontherapeutic reasons. This practice is performed mostly on girls under the age of 5 and, in any case, below the age of 14. Various types of FGM are recognized by World Health Organization (WHO), with different levels of severity, the most radical of which is commonly called infibulation. This practice, which has no medical justification and no health benefits, is widespread mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, but immigration has brought awareness of it to Western World, in particular in Europe and the US. The term "mutilation" used in reference to these practices was introduced in the late seventies, replacing the term "female circumcision," to emphasize the irreversible damage to women's health. This term was adopted at the third Conference of the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, held in Addis Ababa in 1991, and recommended by the WHO as the term to be used within the United Nations. The increasing prevalence of FGM in Western countries is currently being studied by the Working Group on Social Pediatrics of the European Pediatric Association, the Union of National European Pediatric Societies and Associations (EPA-UNEPSA). This is because EPA-UNEPSA considers essential for European pediatricians to be aware of this practice, its medical complications and the legal implications, in order to identify and possibly prevent them through an information campaign targeting the families of foreign communities living in the various European nations and using the various local healthcare services. This commentary, authored by members of the EPA-UNEPSA Working Group on Social Pediatrics, aims to draw the attention of pediatricians to this practice and emphasize the importance of training programs that assist general pediatricians in managing health issues, like FGM, affecting children subject to the cultural practices of new citizen communities living in various European nations.
The Global Issue of Female Genital Mutilation
Massimo Pettoello-Mantovani
;Ida GiardinoConceptualization
;
2024-01-01
Abstract
Female genital mutilation (FGM) refers to all forms of partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other alterations to female genital organs, carried out for cultural or nontherapeutic reasons. This practice is performed mostly on girls under the age of 5 and, in any case, below the age of 14. Various types of FGM are recognized by World Health Organization (WHO), with different levels of severity, the most radical of which is commonly called infibulation. This practice, which has no medical justification and no health benefits, is widespread mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, but immigration has brought awareness of it to Western World, in particular in Europe and the US. The term "mutilation" used in reference to these practices was introduced in the late seventies, replacing the term "female circumcision," to emphasize the irreversible damage to women's health. This term was adopted at the third Conference of the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, held in Addis Ababa in 1991, and recommended by the WHO as the term to be used within the United Nations. The increasing prevalence of FGM in Western countries is currently being studied by the Working Group on Social Pediatrics of the European Pediatric Association, the Union of National European Pediatric Societies and Associations (EPA-UNEPSA). This is because EPA-UNEPSA considers essential for European pediatricians to be aware of this practice, its medical complications and the legal implications, in order to identify and possibly prevent them through an information campaign targeting the families of foreign communities living in the various European nations and using the various local healthcare services. This commentary, authored by members of the EPA-UNEPSA Working Group on Social Pediatrics, aims to draw the attention of pediatricians to this practice and emphasize the importance of training programs that assist general pediatricians in managing health issues, like FGM, affecting children subject to the cultural practices of new citizen communities living in various European nations.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.