Consequences+of+FGM

A circumcised girl has to live with the physical problems of the female genital mutilation her whole life. There are several physical problems with which the girls have to live with. The consequences and problems depend on the age of the girl, the conditions under which the mutilation is made, and the health standard of the girl. In addition to that the girl’s physical problems also depend on the “gravity of the mutilation, hygienic conditions, the skill and eyesight of the operator, and the struggles of the child”. The first physical problems occur directly after the mutilation. Women feel horrible pain during the practice of the mutilation and extreme pain afterwards. The girls lose a lot of blood during the procedure and they are very exhausted after the mutilation. Moreover the girls have to deal with haemorrhage and post-operative shock. This post-operative shock lasts for a long time and therefore girls are often unable to express how they feel and have a hard time to recall what exactly has happened to them.
 * Physical Effects**
 * PAIN**

Besides the pain, there are other physical issues the girls have to deal with. According to Waris Dirie’s book Desert flower, it is described that she was not able to go to the toilet normally. She always stays for more than ten minutes on the toilet just to urinate. The complication is called Acute Urine Retention. The mutilation also affects the anal sphincter/orifice and the urethra. The urine has a difficult time to be disposed of, since the natural way has been closed off.
 * Trouble going to the bathroom**

There are more dangers, too. The girls are shocked from the conditions of the mutilation and the operator. The instruments are able to transfuse Tetanus, Septicemia and Anemia, which often occurs in rural areas because there the girls are left alone completely and when they are exhausted they are not able to help themselves. Nonsterile instruments also causes HIV and Hepatitis B. The wound needs a long time to heal. Some wounds do not stop bleeding at all. According to Dr Rosemary Mburu, a Kenyan gynecologist has estimated that 15 per cent of all circumcised females die of bleeding or infections.
 * DISEASES**

Waris Dirie also tells us something about the long-term infections. The pain of the menstruation was intolerable for her. Everything damed in the space of the wound and it took about two weeks until the blood completely disappeared. Every time she menstruated she built a hole in the sandy ground of the desert and sat in it because it was cool and more pleasant.
 * Trouble having menstruation**

These women are more immobile and have a difficult time getting around. According to Passmore Sanderson, it is called Stoic Immobility. Moreover, it could develop swelling of the joints and the skin gets harder, which complicates the cut before the first experience with intercourse. In some cases, such as a thirty-year-old nomad woman from the Western Sudan, people can develop a cyst the size of a tennis ball under their scar.
 * Immobility**

Another long-term complication is associated with pregnancy and childbirth. When girls or women are pregnant, they feel pain because when the baby grows up the scar begins to stretch. During birth it is painful labor and the girls and women also have to deal with the pain of their mutilation. When the baby is born the scar always stays under strain which certainly causes pain.
 * Complication with pregnancy and childbirth**

**Psychological Effects** The psychological problems are even harder to deal with. Compared to the physical consequences, the studies and researches just show few solutions to the psychological issues of the mutilated girls and women. I think it is obvious because in my mind psychological problems are even harder to treat. And if a circumcised girl has an infection, the doctor always inspects the girl and barely then he will find an infection. But if the girl has a psychological problem maybe the doctor will ask the girl what has happened and because she is afraid of being banished from her tribe, she is not able to speak.

As stated earlier the girls fall into shock during and after the mutilation. Any kind of shock is a traumatic experience which means that all the girls suffer from fear. The fear is so intensive that many infibulated women have a syndrome of chronic anxiety and depression. The worry about the state of their genitals and the fear of infertility develops as well.
 * SHOCK**

According to Passmore Sanderson, little girls who were infibulated change their behaviour completely. Before the practice is done they are friendly, open and normal children but afterwards they behave differently. They are afraid of medical examination and they are just silent. This shows an act of personality change like changing from a very lively to a reserved and silent girl. The girls could also react with exaggerated singing and pressure of talk. They do not even know what they do because they are in a trauma. This trauma changes their personality completely. This complete change of their behaviour can lead to hallucinations, inability to indulge in sexual activity, divorce and hospitalization.
 * BEHAVIOUR CHANGES**

According to Passmore Sanderson, a thirty-two year old woman’s scar did not heal after the childbirth. She was not able to sleep and to eat because she was so worried about her not-healing wound. A little girl, just seven years old, was afraid of her circumcision and screamed while she slept. She screamed “the insect” which expresses the fear of the circumciser. All these girls and women suffer terrible pain. This pain is expressed in depression, chronic anxiety and the fear of no being able to have a child. Waris Dirie never experienced such strong depressions or chronic anxiety but she was afraid of going to the gynecologist because to see this scar is shocking. She was also afraid of the doctor’s questions because it was not so pleasant to speak openly. The women who are mutilated have to go through a lot of pain, physically and mentally. Dr Mark Belsey of the Division of Family health said: “…There is no single practice which has such a dramatic negative effect on health in the broadest sense as female genital mutilation.”
 * ANXIETY/DEPRESSION**