Compare and Contrast - Assignment Example

The question is why, despite of many oppositions against it, does discrimination still exist in many cultures of the African countries? Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a controversial international issue on human rights that many people from different cultures, whether they are for or against female circumcision, vary in opinions which come in clash with one another. The World Health Organization (2012) defines female genital mutilation as a procedure that involves partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or any other injury to the female genital organs, whether for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic reasons.

It is often called female circumcision implying the male circumcision as reasonable counterpart for the rite of passage of the masculine gender. However, it differs greatly from male circumcision because the degree of cutting is far more extensive, which human right advocates believe to be inhuman. This is one of many reasons why human rights’ enthusiasts fight against female genital mutilation as it is considered as a violation on the rights of women and children causing great harm rather than being good according to anti-FGM enthusiasts.

Focusing on the ill effects of female genital mutilation, according to anti-FGM and pro health movements, it often impairs a woman’s sexual and reproductive functions and can even affect the ability of girls and women to pass urine and menstrual flow normally that often leads to retention and further infection of the genital and pelvic area. This is why WHO have termed the practice a female genital mutilation because universally it mutilates women violating their rights (Royal College of Nursing, 2006).

FGM has been a practice that can be traced a thousand years ago and still flourish even on today’s most modern and humanistic times. If it has been deemed as a violation of human rights then the question is why for humanity’s sake it still persists