There are many beliefs behind the rite of female circumcision. For example, the tribes in Nigeria believe that the clitoris is an aggressive organ that will kill a baby as it is pushed out of the birth canal. The Yoruba of Nigeria believe that semen in a mother's milk will harm a baby and only female circumcision will allow women to abstain from sex while nursing. Most beliefs about female circumcision lead to the idea that a woman must be "purified" by cleansing her from the clitoris. Almost all African ethnic groups that practice female circumcision believe that an uncircumcised woman has an unbridled sexual appetite that will lead to promiscuity and prostitution.
There are three types of female circumcision: "Sunna" removes the hood of the clitoris; clitoridectomy removes either part of or all of the clitoris, and all or parts of the labia majora and some or all of the labia minora; "infibulation," the most severe kind, is the total removal of the clitoris and the labia. This is followed by sewing together the remaining tissue, often with thorns, leaving a matchstick size opening for urination and menstrual periods.
Infibulation is practiced mostly in the Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia; sunna, clitoridectomy and, to a lesser degree, infibulation are performed in other parts of Africa, parts of Asia, and the Western world with large African populations.
Though historians are not sure where, when, or how it started, they do know one thing: Ever since the modern Western world has come into contact with it, FGM has been a source of conflict.
One of the most visible conflicts over FGM began in Kenya in 1929 when the Church of Scotland Mission decreed that all converts and all children who wished to attend the mission schools had to forsake the custom of clitoridectomy. The resulting tension caused the Gikuyu to establish independent schools away from missionary influence, in both educational and religious matters.
Historians have argued that the upheaval over "female circumcision" had more to do with the missionaries' and settlers' fear that British rule would be overthrown, rather than concern over the moral and health implications of clitoridectomy. If so, it was a convenient issue. The missionary stance on clitoridectomy was one that is easy for Westerners, even non-religious Westerners, to understand.
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