It is a heavy topic. Honestly, when most people first hear about female genital mutilation, their gut reaction is pure shock. They ask, "How could a parent do that?" It feels like a contradiction of everything we believe about love and protection. But if we want to actually stop it, we have to look past the initial horror and figure out why do people do fgm in the first place. It isn't usually about malice. It’s about a messy, deeply-ingrained web of social pressure, tradition, and a terrifyingly misplaced sense of duty.
You’ve probably seen the acronyms. FGM, or female genital cutting (FGC). According to the World Health Organization, over 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone the procedure. That’s not a small number. It’s a global reality. It happens in 30 countries across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and yeah, it happens in immigrant communities in the West too.
The Social Glue: Why the Community Matters More Than the Individual
In many of these places, if you don't follow the rules, you're out. It’s that simple. And that brutal. FGM is often the "ticket" to adulthood. Without it, a girl might be seen as "unclean" or "immature." Think about it. If every single person you know—your mother, your grandmother, your best friend—tells you that this is what makes you a woman, how do you say no? You don’t. You do it because you want to belong.
Social convention is a powerful drug. UNICEF researchers often describe FGM as a "social convention" or a "non-negotiable rule." In a tight-knit village, a girl who isn't cut is often unmarriageable. In societies where a woman’s entire economic security depends on her husband and his family, being "unmarriageable" is basically a death sentence for her future. Parents aren't trying to hurt their daughters; they are trying to ensure they can get married and be supported. They see it as a painful but necessary investment.
The Virginity Myth and Control
There is this pervasive idea that FGM "preserves" a woman's virtue. It’s basically about controlling female sexuality. By reducing a woman's libido—or in the case of Type III (infibulation), physically preventing intercourse—the community believes they are guaranteeing she stays a virgin until marriage and remains faithful after.
It’s a control tactic. Plain and simple.
Religion, Tradition, and the Confusion Between the Two
Here is something that surprises a lot of people: FGM is not actually required by any major religion. It’s not in the Quran. It’s not in the Bible. Yet, many people who practice it truly believe it is a religious obligation. This is where culture and faith get tangled up in a way that is really hard to pull apart.
- Misinterpretations: Local religious leaders sometimes preach it as a requirement.
- Pre-dating Faith: In many regions, FGM existed long before Islam or Christianity arrived.
- Syncretism: The practice just fused into the local version of the faith over centuries.
Dr. Nafissatou Diop, a renowned expert on the subject, has spent years pointing out that when religious leaders come out publicly against FGM, the numbers actually start to drop. But until those leaders speak up, the local grandmother is going to keep believing she’s doing the "godly" thing for her granddaughter.
Hygiene Myths and the "Cleaner" Body
Then there’s the hygiene argument. It’s completely false, obviously, but it’s a huge factor in why do people do fgm. There are myths that the clitoris will grow to the size of a penis if not cut, or that it’s inherently "dirty." Some cultures believe that if a baby’s head touches the clitoris during birth, the baby will die. These aren't just stories; people believe them with the same certainty you believe in gravity.
Medical experts like Dr. Jasmine Abdulcadir, who works with survivors, spend a lot of time debunking these biological fantasies. But when a belief is passed down through oral tradition for a thousand years, a pamphlet from a Western NGO doesn't always carry much weight.
The Economic Angle
We also have to talk about the "cutters." In many communities, the traditional circumciser is a person of high status. It’s a job. They get paid in money, food, or gifts. If you stop FGM, you’re putting people out of work. It sounds cold, but in a subsistence economy, that matters. This is why some of the most successful anti-FGM programs focus on finding "alternative rites of passage" and new jobs for the former circumcisers.
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The Physical and Psychological Cost
We can’t talk about why it happens without mentioning what it actually does. The immediate risks are terrifying: severe pain, shock, hemorrhage, tetanus, or infection. Long-term? It’s a list of misery. Chronic pain, cysts, infertility, increased risk of childbirth complications, and newborn deaths.
And the trauma. Imagine the person you trust most—your mother—holding you down while this happens. The psychological scars, like PTSD, anxiety, and depression, often last much longer than the physical ones.
Why It’s Not Just "Over There"
People think this is a "Third World problem." It’s not. In the US, the CDC estimated a few years back that over 500,000 women and girls were at risk of or had undergone FGM. It’s often done through "vacation cutting," where families take girls back to their home country during the summer break. Doctors in London, New York, and Berlin are seeing the effects every day in their clinics.
How Change Actually Happens
So, how do you stop something that is so deeply buried in the DNA of a culture? You don't do it by shouting from the outside. You do it by changing the "marriageability" math.
When an entire village agrees—collectively—to stop cutting their daughters, the pressure vanishes. If no one is cut, then being "uncut" is no longer a barrier to marriage. This "community-led" approach, pioneered by organizations like Tostan in Senegal, has seen thousands of villages publicly declare they are abandoning the practice. It works because it respects the community while demanding change.
What We Can Actually Do
The reality of why do people do fgm is that it's a survival strategy in a harsh social environment. To end it, we have to provide a different way to survive.
- Support Local Grassroots Movements: Don’t just give to giant international orgs. Look for groups like the Orchid Project or Safe Hands for Girls, which are led by survivors and locals.
- Education Over Condemnation: Programs that teach basic human rights and biology without shaming the parents are far more effective.
- Medical Training: Doctors in the West need to know how to identify and treat FGM, and more importantly, how to talk to families about it sensitively.
- Legislative Pressure: Laws help, but only if they are enforced and accompanied by social change. In some places, making it illegal just pushes it underground or makes people do it to younger infants who can't speak up.
If you’re looking for a way to engage with this, the best thing to do is to learn about the specific context of the region you’re interested in. Egypt is different from Somalia. The Gambia is different from Indonesia. Understanding the nuance is the only way to be part of the solution.
Next Steps for Action:
Check out the Girl Generation resources to understand how to talk about social change without being patronizing. If you are a healthcare provider, look up the RCOG guidelines on managing the health complications of FGM to ensure your practice is trauma-informed. Awareness is the first step, but supporting the "Alternative Rites of Passage" programs is where the real needle moves.