There’s A Part Of Africa Where Ladies’ Vaginas Are Sewed Shut
Enter the horrific culture of Infibulation
Female genital mutilation affects over 200 million women globally. It includes a wide range of unsanitary, unhealthy, unsafe, and downright unethical practices involving removal of parts of the vagina. Girls typically undergo these practices between the ages of 2 to 14.
Obviously there are no health benefits to any of this, neither is the quality of life of the victim improved in any way. It’s a practice rooted in hyper-conservatism, religious fanaticism, or mere superstitions. 30 countries are known to still practice such till this day, with over 80 percent of the activity coming from Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti, Mali, and Guinea.
The girls are cut in very unsanitary conditions with no anesthetic or any form of pain killers. Apart from the terrible pains they get to experience as babies, they eventually grow up to even worse complications like scarring, menstrual difficulties and dysfunction, infertility, urinary tract infections, intense pain during intercourse, problems during childbirth, anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
Female genital mutilation is divided into 4 categories:
Clitoridectomy; which involves a partial removal of the clitoris,
Partial excisions to the labia majora or minora,
Any other activity that involves scraping off or piercing
Infibulation; which has to do with sewing a portion of the vagina to make it smaller so that sex becomes very difficult. I’ll discuss this further.
The whole process is done amidst celebrations in a ceremonial manner. Apart from the fact that the exercise is done with non sterilized tools, as a matter of fact, they can use the same tool they used in slicing Jane’s vagina to scrape Mary’s, the people performing the procedure are mostly religious leaders and uncertified midwives wielding crude cutting tools like scissors, knives, hot metals, pieces of glass.
After the cutting, the wound gets stitched together with tools such as thorns, and then the legs are bounded together for up to 30 days in order for the wound to be able to heal. The healing process is aided by the application of herbs, ointments, and even animal feces.
One of the major justifications they place on the activity is that it helps to maintain the sexual purity of the girl child, saving her up for her husband (who might not even be a virgin at all). I know of a woman I went to high school with who confessed that her clitoris had been removed by the village head to keep her from becoming promiscuous due to the fact that she wouldn’t feel pleasure from sex. Till today, her sex, and ultimately her marriage life is in shambles because of this.
Apart from cutting off someone’s clitoris, another way they “ensure purity” is by infibulation.
Infibulation involves the narrowing of the opening of the vagina, either by stitching a portion shut, or creating some kind of seal around it. The seal is created by cutting off and then repositioning the labia majora and minora, without removal of the clitoris. A small pencil sized hole is left for the passage of fluid.
This is even more horrific when you think about the fact that all the repositioning, and removal, and stitching are all done by unqualified illiterates who wouldn’t be able to identify a surgical knife sitting on a tray.
Infibulation is carried out on one child at a time by a matron, in secret. Only women are allowed to be there when it’s happening. The matron sits on the floor, and the child is held in a position similar to when a woman is in childbirth.
The labia is excised, without anesthetics, and then before it’s closed, the mother inspects the area to ensure it’s properly done, and then myrrh is sprinkled into the area. When it’s time to close the wound, thorns from an acacia bush are mostly used instead of sutures. The legs are then tied together for close to 2 weeks, after which it’s opened.
When she wants to get married, the family of her husband checks to see if the area has been tampered with. The husband then takes a knife and opens the suture, marking her open for sex, you know, like cutting off ribbons before you open your new pizza place.
Most of the time, the opening the husband creates with the knife is only completely sufficient for his penis, making childbirth nearly impossible. To solve this issue, area is further widened, and as soon as the child comes out, the place is closed again as it was before the child birth. The legs are then tied together again as before, to aid healing. The whole process will repeat itself with as many children that is given birth to.
“She started cutting, and when the blade touched my skin, it was like nothing I’ve ever felt before, it was extremely extremely painful. Again, I’m fighting so it was very difficult… they were struggling to hold me down and then they put a cloth over my mouth to suppress the screaming.
At some point my body went into complete shock, I felt numb for a bit and thought I was going to die. And then being sown back, while fully awake, is one experience I will never forget”
— A survivor
The communities where these kinds of activities take place have been so indoctrinated that the villagers see it as a rite of passage into womanhood. Girls who refuse this are terribly stigmatized by the community, ridiculed and shamed. They are told frequently that they have a “third leg.”
“I heard rumors that my classmates called me the girl with 3 legs. They refused to play with me and called me untouchable, and when I told my mom, she said it’s time to give me a gift…
The next morning we walked into a house with a long and dark hallway, you can’t explain it but you’ll just have a feeling something bad is going to happen. I asked my mom where she was taking me to which she replied “I’m going to make you a woman.” I turned around to run away and the last thing I felt was a hand grabbing my neck and pulling me back.
I woke up tied to a surgical table. I remember those rough fingers putting things in place and touching me the way no one had ever.
I came back home to a lot of festivities, with my family telling me how proud they are of me becoming a woman…….”
— Soraya
She was faced with a life threatening infection where she couldn’t walk for months because her legs were swollen.
Till today, 30 countries still practice this, and despite the horrific experience, it’s still heavily incentivized and encouraged by those societies. You know what’s even more surprising, it’s also practiced in some parts of the US, and Europe.