Female genital cutting in Egypt: an interdisciplinary study of reasons and consequences of an unhealthy practice

Abstract

Female Genital Circumcision, or FGC, is an ancient Egyptian tradition. In 2008, the practice was criminalized due to it being a violation of human rights, yet the majority of Egyptian people wanted it to continue. Through literary research, this paper searches for a way to reconcile and explain the discrepancy between the ban and the opinion of the people. The disciplines medicine, development geography, and cultural sociology shed light on this complex problem from their own perspectives, and are also combined in order to lead to a more comprehensive approach. Medicine found that FGC is a harmful practice with both mental and physical consequences. The reasons for why the practice continues to exist despite these negative consequences are given by development geography and cultural sociology. The former argues that FGC still exists mostly due to low education and therefore misconceptions about FGC in most regions of Egypt. The latter argues that social reproduction and the social repercussions for not undergoing FGC are the causes for the continuing practice. The findings of the three disciplines can be integrated, and the continuation of FGC despite the negative effects can then be explained. FGC is still an ongoing practice because the Egyptian people are loyal to their traditions for different reasons like ignorance or fear of social consequences, and those reasons weigh heavier than the negative consequences for the Egyptians. Any change in the prevalence of FGC, both negative and positive, has to come from within Egyptian people themselves and cannot be forced upon them by law.