Pakistan Muslim Woman Khatna: Many practices are prevalent in different religions around the world. Some of these practices are considered beneficial from social and cultural point of view while some practices become a cause of pain for people. One such practice is called circumcision, which is becoming a serious issue for women. Al Jazeera has presented a report on this issue, in which they interviewed a woman named Maryam (fictitious name). Remembering his old days he told the whole story. Maryam told that 20 years ago when she was just 7 years old. Then she was circumcised, which she has not been able to forget till date.
Maryam tells that when she was 7 years old, she was excited to go to her cousin’s birthday party. Her mother had dressed her in a pink dress and braided her hair with a butterfly clip. However, instead of the party, her mother took her to a dilapidated building, where a metal table was laid out and the walls were uprooted. There, an old woman grabbed Mary and sat her on a table and began the painful process of circumcision. The pain was unforgettable and the next 20 minutes changed his life forever.
struggle after two decades
Today 27 year old Maryam, who is a victim of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). They carry with them the mental and physical scars of that painful experience. “I feel like a part of my body has been taken away, and that affects my emotional and sexual response,” says Mariam. Maryam is from the Dawoodi Bohra community of Pakistan, where FGM is a common practice. About 75-85 percent of Bohra women in Pakistan undergo FGM, but the procedure is kept secret, making information and discussion about it very limited.
opposition to a standing practice
Like Maryam, Alia (fictitious name) is also a victim of FGM. She tells how this process has left her with deep wounds. It was like a nightmare. FGM has profound effects on the physical and mental health of girls, and is considered a means of suppressing a woman’s sexuality.
Health risks of FGM
Doctors say that women have to face reproductive complications due to FGM. Asifa Malhan, a gynecologist at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center in Karachi, says this practice is extremely harmful for health. Apart from this, it can cause problems like lack of sexual pleasure in women and pain during sexual relations.
facing cultural barriers
There is no concrete law to stop FGM in Pakistan. Till date no action has been taken in any case. In the Dawoodi Bohra community, it is seen as a religious and spiritual ritual, which has been going on for generations.
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