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Female genital mutilation (FGM) is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as all procedures which involve partial or total removal of the external female Instruments and/or injury to the female genital organs, whether for cultural or any other non-therapeutic reasons.

In Nigeria, subjection of girls and women to obscure traditional practices is legendary, FGM is an unhealthy traditional practice inflicted on girls and women worldwide. FGM is widely
recognized as a violation of human rights, which is deeply rooted in cultural beliefs and perceptions over decades and generations with no easy task for change.

Though FGM is practiced in more than 28 countries in Africa and a few scattered communities worldwide, its burden is seen in Nigeria, Egypt, Mali, Eritrea, Sudan, Central African Republic, and northern part of
Ghana where it has been an old traditional and
cultural practice of various ethnic groups. The highest prevalence rates are found in Somalia and Djibouti where FGM is virtually universal.

FGM is widely practiced in Nigeria, and with its large population, Nigeria has the highest absolute number of cases of FGM in the world, accounting for about one-quarter of the estimated 115–130 million circumcised
women worldwide. In Nigeria, FGM has the highest prevalence in the south-south (77%) (among adult women), followed by the south east (68%) and south west (65%), but practiced on a smaller scale in the north, paradoxically tending to in a more extreme form. Nigeria has a population of 150 million people with the women population forming 52%. The national prevalence rate of FGM is 41% among
adult women. Prevalence rates progressively decline in the young age groups and 37% of circumcised women do not want FGM to continue. 61% of women who do not want FGM said it was a bad harmful tradition and 22% said it was against religion.


Other reasons cited were medical complications (22%), painful personal experience (10%), and the view that FGM is against the dignity of women (10%).
However, there is still considerable support for the practice in areas where it is deeply rooted in local tradition. The aim of this review was to ascertain the current status of FGM in Nigeria.

ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE

FGM is a practice whose origin and significance is shrouded in secrecy, uncertainty, and confusion. The origin of FGM is fraught with controversy either as an initiation ceremony of young girls into womanhood or to ensure virginity and curb promiscuity, or to
protect female modesty and chastity. The ritual has been so widespread that it could not have risen from a single origin.


TYPES/VARIATIONS OF FGM IN NIGERIA

FGM practiced in Nigeria is classified into four types as follows.

>Clitoridectomy or Type I (the least severe
form of the practice): It involves the removal of the prepuce or the hood of the clitoris and all or part of the clitoris. In Nigeria, this usually involves excision of only a part of the clitoris.

>Type II or “sunna” is a more severe practice that involves the removal of the clitoris along with partial or total excision of the labia
minora. Type I and Type II are more widespread but less harmful compared to Type III.

>Type III (infibulation) is the most severe form of FGM. It involves the removal of the clitoris, the labia minora and adjacent medial part of the labia majora and the stitching of the vaginal orifice, leaving an opening of the size of a pin head to allow for menstrual flow or
urine.

>Type IV or other unclassified types recognized by include introcision and gishiri cuts, pricking, piercing, or incision of the clitoris and/or labia, scraping and/or cutting of the vagina (angrya cuts), stretching the clitoris and/or labia, cauterization, the introduction of corrosive substances and herbs in the vagina, and other forms.

In Nigeria, of the six largest ethnic groups, the Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, Ibo, Ijaw, and Kanuri, only the Fulani do not practice any form. FGM varies from country to country, tribes, religion,
and from one state and cultural setting to another, and no continent in the world has been exempted.
In most parts of Nigeria, it is carried out at a very young age (minors) and there is no possibility of the individual's consent.
Type I and Type II are more widespread and less harmful compared to Type III and Type IV. In Nigeria, there is greater prevalence of Type I excision in the south, with extreme forms of
FGM prevalent in the North. Practice of FGM has no relationship with religion. Muslims and Christians practice it, but it is more widely spread in Christian predominated parts of Nigeria.

Cc:myndd44, ishilove, seun