Lifelong consequences

All forms of FGM are irreversible and may have severe consequences for the physical and mental health of the person concerned. Frequently, the women do not even associate the symptoms with the circumcision, especially when the operation dates back several years and most of the women in the social environment have the same - apparently "typically female" - problems. They simply lack the anatomical knowledge to establish a connection between the mutilation and their problems.

Potential long-term consequences of FGM depend on the severity of the mutilation and turn out differently as the case arises. Among the aftermath of the practice are incontinence, problems associated with the act of urination as well as menstruation, impairment of the sexual intercourse, infertility and complications during child birth even up to the death of the mother or the newborn child. Furthermore, depressions and anxiety disorders may occur as a consequence of the traumatic experience.

During the operation, many girls die from bleeding to death, tetanus or blood poisoning.

During the wedding night, infibulated women must often be opened by means of a knife - by their own men! Women also need to be cut open in labour since the tissue does not stretch anymore because of the cicatrisation. In the process mother and child are often harmed. The women are sewn up again after birth, are re-opened for the "second wedding night“ and another time during the birth of the next child, etc.

The consequences of the mutilation are frequently perceived as fate, to some extent even as a result of one’s own failure. Mostly, the affected person cannot share her experiences with anyone. Nobody talks about circumcision. It is a taboo.