Female genital cutting is a tradition that pre-dates organised religion.
FGC is thought to have originated in the Nubia region of the Horn of Africa (now Egypt and Sudan) in around 2,200 BC. Both high-class pharaohs and lowest-class slaves are known to have been infibulated (the most extreme form of FGC–type 3). Read more about the origins of FGC.
FGC happens because the deeply entrenched social custom means a girl needs to be cut in order to marry well.
An un-cut girl is seen as unclean, unlikely to be chaste, a sexual deviant, and not a real woman.
On the other hand, a girl who is cut will make a good marriage because she has been initiated into womanhood, is seen to be cleaner and more fertile, and will be chaste until her wedding night.
This means that parents, even if they understand the dangers and negative health impacts of cutting their daughter, will choose to do so because it is worse to have a daughter whom no one will marry.
This is the first step towards understanding the approach that needs to be taken to end female genital cutting. Understanding that parents cut their daughters because they think it is the right thing to do means acknowledging that FGC is a social norm that was constructed to serve the community.
The reasons usually given for cutting include: beauty and cleanliness, male protection and approval, health, religion, and morality.
These days, many people cite religion as a reason for cutting. However, FGC is not actually a part of any religion. It has been absorbed by people who practise both Christianity and Islam.
Some priests and imams preach in favour of FGC, but there have also been high-profile declarations by leading clerics condemning the practice . This is a contradiction which makes working for an end to female genital cutting even harder.
