Warning - The following post contains graphic information.

Female Genital Mutilation. It's as horrible as it sounds. FGM is a crude, outdated ritual currently being practiced in 28 African countries, various regions in the Middle East (including Yemen, Oman, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates), as well as in a number of other nations. According to Amnesty International, "An estimated 135 million of the world's girls and women have undergone genital mutilation, and two million girls a year are at risk of mutilation - approximately 6,000 per day."

Here is what these girls must go through:

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the term used to refer to the removal of part, or all, of the female genitalia. The most severe form is infibulation, also known as pharaonic circumcision. An estimated 15% of all mutilations in Africa are infibulations. The procedure consists of clitoridectomy (where all, or part of, the clitoris is removed), excision (removal of all, or part of, the labia minora), and cutting of the labia majora to create raw surfaces, which are then stitched or held together in order to form a cover over the vagina when they heal. A small hole is left to allow urine and menstrual blood to escape.

This brutal "initiation rite" marks a female's transition from adolescence to womanhood. Girls are encouraged to be brave (some, however, are not told about the ritual at all and are ambushed by a group of local women who will perform the procedure), but most receive no form of anesthesia. These unfortunate girls remain conscious during every second of the "surgery," aware of the slicing done by broken glass, a tin lid, scissors, a penknife, a razor blade or some other crude cutting instrument. What a way to make a girl into a woman.

Physical effects of FGM can include: chronic infections, intermittent bleeding, abscesses and small benign tumours of the nerve, hemorrhaging (which can result in death), urinary tract infections, excessive scar tissue, and HIV (from using the same instrument on several girls without sterilization) - to name a few. FGM also heavily impairs and/or completely removes a woman's ability to experience sexual pleaasure and orgasm.

No one deserves this. Yet the procedure continues, unquestioned by many of its victims, who are taught that it is only natural. In fact, a recent article noted that more than 90 percent of Malian women (Mali is a Muslim nation in Africa's arid Sahel belt) have experienced mutilation and that a 2001 survey showed 75 percent of Malian women said they were in favor of excision. The fact that these women are not more educated about the procedure and are accepting of the cultural, religious, and sexual reasons argued by its proponents is beyond bothersome. Relinquishing control over one's own body and sexuality is a serious matter, and I don't think that tradition is a good enough excuse.