LETTER: Female genital mutilation has no place in today’s society

Julia Lilia-Maharajh’s article on female genital mutilation reminded me of a television documentary that revealed this practice is taking place in the Eastern Cape (“Female genital cutting is practised in 28 African countries. Why can’t the law stop it?”, September 21).

The programme showed lots of little girls lined up to go to a circumcision school. I thought female circumcisions were illegal in SA, but clearly everyone on this programme — including the parents — were either ignorant or complicit, as they were quite happy to be filmed.

Female genital mutilation leaves these young girls scarred for the rest of their lives, with multiple gynaecological and obstetric problems. Surely, in 2023, this practice should be totally banned and rejected by society? Yet I see many more of these schools are springing up.

It is hard to understand why any mother would allow their daughter to go through this, knowing all the problems they have themselves lived with throughout their lives. 

Already one child aged just nine has died, and there may be more we haven't heard about. If the practice is allowed to take hold in SA we will undoubtedly see many more female deaths.

I have been writing for years about the number of healthy young men who go into the bush for their circumcisions, many to illegal schools without any checks or balances, and either never return or lose their manhoods due to physical abuse and non-sterile conditions.

Female genital mutilation must be stopped in its tracks before we see a similar toll of hundreds of deaths among the young female population.

Many, many archaic customs around the world have been dropped as societies evolved — consider the dunking of witches in the village pond in Europe centuries ago. Female genital mutilation should be encouraged to go the same way.

Barbie Sandler
Constantia

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