89-603: The Color Purple is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker that won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction . The novel has been the target of censors numerous times, and appears on the American Library Association list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2000–2010 at number seventeen because of the sometimes explicit content, particularly in terms of violence. In 2003,
178-522: A "self-enforcing social convention " to which families feel they must conform to avoid uncut daughters facing social exclusion. Ellen Gruenbaum reported that, in Sudan in the 1970s, cut girls from an Arab ethnic group would mock uncut Zabarma girls with Ya, ghalfa! ("Hey, unclean!"). The Zabarma girls would respond Ya, mutmura! (A mutmura was a storage pit for grain that was continually opened and closed, like an infibulated woman.) But despite throwing
267-429: A 1988 poem as the "three feminine sorrows": the procedure itself, the wedding night when the woman is cut open, then childbirth when she is cut again. Despite the evident suffering, it is women who organize all forms of FGM. Anthropologist Rose Oldfield Hayes wrote in 1975 that educated Sudanese men who did not want their daughters to be infibulated (preferring clitoridectomy) would find the girls had been sewn up after
356-432: A child's sex by eliminating external traces of androgyny," Janice Boddy wrote in 2007. "The female body is then covered, closed, and its productive blood bound within; the male body is unveiled, opened, and exposed." In communities where infibulation is common, there is a preference for women's genitals to be smooth, dry and without odour, and both women and men may find the natural vulva repulsive. Some men seem to enjoy
445-496: A joint statement in 1997 defining FGM as "all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons". The procedures vary according to the ethnicity and individual practitioners; during a 1998 survey in Niger, women responded with over 50 terms when asked what was done to them. Translation problems are compounded by
534-427: A pouch for the girl to wear. A single hole of 2–3 mm is left for the passage of urine and menstrual fluid. The vulva is closed with surgical thread, or agave or acacia thorns, and might be covered with a poultice of raw egg, herbs, and sugar. To help the tissue bond, the girl's legs are tied together, often from hip to ankle; the bindings are usually loosened after a week and removed after two to six weeks. If
623-534: A result of the practice, because complications may not be recognized or reported. The practitioners' use of shared instruments is thought to aid the transmission of hepatitis B , hepatitis C and HIV , although no epidemiological studies have shown this. Late complications vary depending on the type of FGM. They include the formation of scars and keloids that lead to strictures and obstruction, epidermoid cysts that may become infected, and neuroma formation (growth of nerve tissue) involving nerves that supplied
712-526: A significant percentage of infibulated women and girls reported a less severe type. In 2017, during an international meeting of 98 FGM experts, which included physicians, social scientists, policymakers, and activists from 23 countries, a majority of the participants advocated for the revision of FGM/C classifications proposed by the WHO and other UN agencies. The experts agreed on legal prohibition of reinfibulation and ritual pricking. They also expressed worry over
801-504: A study by Nigerian physician Mairo Usman Mandara, over 30 percent of women with gishiri cuts were found to have vesicovaginal fistulae (holes that allow urine to seep into the vagina). FGM harms women's physical and emotional health throughout their lives. It has no known health benefits. The short-term and late complications depend on the type of FGM, whether the practitioner has had medical training, and whether they used antibiotics and sterilized or single-use surgical instruments. In
890-405: A traditional cutter using a blade, FGM is conducted from days after birth to puberty and beyond. In half of the countries for which national statistics are available, most girls are cut before the age of five. Procedures differ according to the country or ethnic group. They include removal of the clitoral hood (type 1-a) and clitoral glans (1-b); removal of the inner labia (2-a); and removal of
979-452: A verbal spat with the mayor's wife, Miss Millie, and after the mayor slaps her, she hits him back. She is beaten by the police and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Squeak tricks the warden, her white uncle, into releasing Sofia from prison and having her work as Miss Millie's maid. The plan works, but the warden rapes Squeak. Sofia is released from prison and forced to work for Miss Millie, which she detests. Squeak cares for Sofia's children, and
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#17327830407361068-502: Is also a belief that infibulation increases hygiene. Common reasons for FGM cited by women in surveys are social acceptance, religion, hygiene, preservation of virginity, marriageability and enhancement of male sexual pleasure. In a study in northern Sudan, published in 1983, only 17.4 percent of women opposed FGM (558 out of 3,210), and most preferred excision and infibulation over clitoridectomy. Attitudes are changing slowly. In Sudan in 2010, 42 percent of women who had heard of FGM said
1157-593: Is also known in Arabic as khafḍ or khifaḍ . Communities may refer to FGM as "pharaonic" for infibulation and " sunna " circumcision for everything else; sunna means "path or way" in Arabic and refers to the tradition of Muhammad , although none of the procedures are required within Islam. The term infibulation derives from fibula , Latin for clasp; the Ancient Romans reportedly fastened clasps through
1246-582: Is common, the practice's many variants are reflected in dozens of terms, often alluding to purification. In the Bambara language , spoken mostly in Mali, it is known as bolokoli ("washing your hands") and in the Igbo language in eastern Nigeria as isa aru or iwu aru ("having your bath"). A common Arabic term for purification has the root t-h-r , used for male and female circumcision ( tahur and tahara ). It
1335-660: Is concentrated in northeastern Africa, particularly Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan. In surveys in 2002–2006, 30 percent of cut girls in Djibouti, 38 percent in Eritrea, and 63 percent in Somalia had experienced Type III. There is also a high prevalence of infibulation among girls in Niger and Senegal, and in 2013 it was estimated that in Nigeria three percent of the 0–14 age group had been infibulated. The type of procedure
1424-647: Is crushed when Shug falls in love with Germaine, a member of her band. Shug travels with Germaine, writing postcards to Celie. Celie pledges to love Shug even if Shug does not love her back. Celie learns that Mister is suffering from a considerable decline in fortunes, and begins calling him by his first name, Albert. Mister proposes that they marry "in the spirit as well as in the flesh", but Celie declines. Nettie and Samuel marry and prepare to return to America. Before they leave, Adam marries Tashi, an African girl. Following tradition, Tashi undergoes female genital mutilation and facial scarring . In solidarity, Adam undergoes
1513-458: Is dead. Mister's son Harpo marries an assertive girl named Sofia. Celie is impressed by Sofia's self-esteem, but Mister chides Harpo for what he considers weakness in his treatment of Sofia. In a moment of envy, Celie tells Harpo to beat Sofia. Sofia fights back and confronts Celie, who apologizes and confides in her about Mister's abuse. Shug Avery, a jazz and blues singer and Mister's long-time mistress, moves in. Celie takes care of Shug, who
1602-472: Is her and Celie's stepfather. Their biological father was lynched, and their mother then suffered a mental collapse that Alphonso exploited. Nettie confesses to Samuel and Corrine that she is the children's biological aunt. Corrine, gravely ill, refuses to believe Nettie until Nettie reminds her that she had previously met Celie. Later, Corrine dies, having accepted Nettie's story. Celie visits Alphonso, who confirms Nettie's story. Celie confides to Shug that she
1691-431: Is ill. While Shug is initially rude to Celie, the two become friends and Celie becomes infatuated with Shug. Frustrated by Harpo's domineering behavior, Sofia moves out, taking her children with her. Several months later, Harpo opens a juke joint where a fully recovered Shug performs nightly. Shug learns that Mister beats Celie, and vows to stay at the house until she is convinced he will stop. Shug and Celie grow closer and
1780-625: Is increased. The WHO estimated in 2006 that an additional 10–20 babies die per 1,000 deliveries as a result of FGM. The estimate was based on a study conducted on 28,393 women attending delivery wards at 28 obstetric centres in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan. In those settings all types of FGM were found to pose an increased risk of death to the baby: 15 percent higher for Type I, 32 percent for Type II, and 55 percent for Type III. The reasons for this were unclear, but may be connected to genital and urinary tract infections and
1869-550: Is losing faith in God; Shug explains to Celie her own unique religious philosophy. Celie, Shug and Squeak decide to leave town; Celie curses Mister before leaving him. They settle in Memphis, Tennessee ; Celie starts a pants-making business. Alphonso dies. Celie inherits land that rightfully should have been passed down to her and Nettie because it belonged to her biological father and mother. She moves back into her childhood home. Celie
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#17327830407361958-824: Is often linked to ethnicity. In Eritrea, for example, a survey in 2002 found that all Hedareb girls had been infibulated, compared with two percent of the Tigrinya , most of whom fell into the "cut, no flesh removed" category. FGM is mostly found in what Gerry Mackie called an "intriguingly contiguous" zone in Africa—east to west from Somalia to Senegal, and north to south from Egypt to Tanzania. Nationally representative figures are available for 27 countries in Africa, as well as Indonesia, Iraqi Kurdistan and Yemen. Over 200 million women and girls are thought to be living with FGM in those 30 countries. The highest concentrations among
2047-482: Is removed; Type III is equivalent to the UNICEF category "sewn closed"; and Type IV describes miscellaneous procedures, including symbolic nicking. Type I is "partial or total removal of the clitoral glans (the external and visible part of the clitoris, which is a sensitive part of the female genitals), and/or the prepuce/ clitoral hood (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoral glans)". Type Ia involves removal of
2136-401: Is satisfactory or whether more is to be cut off. After the clitoris has been satisfactorily amputated ... the circumciser can proceed with the total removal of the labia minora and the paring of the inner walls of the labia majora. Since the entire skin on the inner walls of the labia majora has to be removed all the way down to the perineum, this becomes a messy business. By now, the child
2225-411: Is screaming, struggling, and bleeding profusely, which makes it difficult for the circumciser to hold with bare fingers and nails the slippery skin and parts that are to be cut or sutured together. ... Having ensured that sufficient tissue has been removed to allow the desired fusion of the skin, the circumciser pulls together the opposite sides of the labia majora, ensuring that the raw edges where
2314-596: Is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. FGM prevalence varies worldwide, but is majorly present in some countries of Africa, Asia and Middle East, and within their diasporas. As of 2024 , UNICEF estimates that worldwide 230 million girls and women (144 million in Africa, 80 million in Asia, 6 million in Middle East, and 1-2 million in other parts of the world) had been subjected to one or more types of FGM. Typically carried out by
2403-554: Is usually initiated and carried out by women, who see it as a source of honour, and who fear that failing to have their daughters and granddaughters cut will expose the girls to social exclusion . Adverse health effects depend on the type of procedure; they can include recurrent infections, difficulty urinating and passing menstrual flow, chronic pain , the development of cysts , an inability to get pregnant, complications during childbirth, and fatal bleeding. There are no known health benefits. There have been international efforts since
2492-516: The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), the author declined publication of the book in Israel in 2012. This decision was criticized by Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz , who argued that Walker "resorted to bigotry and censorship against Hebrew-speaking readers of her writings". In a letter to Yediot Books, Walker stated that she would not allow her book to be published in Israel while
2581-807: The Indonesian Ministry of Health and Indonesian Ulema Council both say the clitoris should not be cut. The prevalence rate for the 0–11 group in Indonesia is 49 percent (13.4 million). Smaller studies or anecdotal reports suggest that various types of FGM are also practised in various circumstances in Colombia , Jordan , Oman , Palestine , Saudi Arabia , Malaysia , the United Arab Emirates , India, and among Kurdish communities in Iran but there are no representative data on
2670-465: The Kono people of Sierra Leone , who in 1992 underwent clitoridectomy as an adult during a Sande society initiation, argued in 2000 that it is a male-centred assumption that the clitoris is important to female sexuality. African female symbolism revolves instead around the concept of the womb. Infibulation draws on that idea of enclosure and fertility. "[G]enital cutting completes the social definition of
2759-576: The UNICEF , international FGM rates have risen significantly in recent years, rising from an estimated 200 million in 2016 to 230 million in 2024, with progress towards its abandonment stalling or reversing in many effected countries. Aid agencies define the prevalence of FGM as the percentage of the 15–49 age group that has experienced it. These figures are based on nationally representative household surveys known as Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), developed by Macro International and funded mainly by
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2848-595: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID); and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) conducted with financial and technical help from UNICEF. These surveys have been carried out in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere roughly every five years since 1984 and 1995 respectively. The first to ask about FGM was the 1989–1990 DHS in northern Sudan. The first publication to estimate FGM prevalence based on DHS data (in seven countries)
2937-424: The clitoral hood only. This is rarely performed alone. The more common procedure is Type Ib ( clitoridectomy ), the complete or partial removal of the clitoral glans (the visible tip of the clitoris) and clitoral hood. The circumciser pulls the clitoral glans with her thumb and index finger and cuts it off. Type II (excision) is the complete or partial removal of the inner labia , with or without removal of
3026-430: The urethra opening may still be obstructed by scar tissue. Vesicovaginal or rectovaginal fistulae can develop (holes that allow urine or faeces to seep into the vagina). This and other damage to the urethra and bladder can lead to infections and incontinence, pain during sexual intercourse and infertility . Painful periods are common because of the obstruction to the menstrual flow , and blood can stagnate in
3115-507: The 15–49 age group are in Somalia (98 percent), Guinea (97 percent), Djibouti (93 percent), Egypt (91 percent), and Sierra Leone (90 percent). As of 2013, 27.2 million women had undergone FGM in Egypt, 23.8 million in Ethiopia, and 19.9 million in Nigeria. There is a high concentration in Indonesia, where according to UNICEF Type I (clitoridectomy) and Type IV (symbolic nicking) are practised;
3204-467: The 1970s to persuade practitioners to abandon FGM, and it has been outlawed or restricted in most of the countries in which it occurs, although the laws are often poorly enforced. Since 2010, the United Nations has called upon healthcare providers to stop performing all forms of the procedure, including reinfibulation after childbirth and symbolic "nicking" of the clitoral hood. The opposition to
3293-575: The 1980s, FGM was widely known in English as "female circumcision", implying an equivalence in severity with male circumcision . From 1929 the Kenya Missionary Council referred to it as the sexual mutilation of women, following the lead of Marion Scott Stevenson , a Church of Scotland missionary. References to the practice as mutilation increased throughout the 1970s. In 1975 Rose Oldfield Hayes , an American anthropologist, used
3382-981: The FGM status of all their living daughters. The highest concentrations among girls aged 0–14 were in Gambia (56 percent), Mauritania (54 percent), Indonesia (49 percent for 0–11) and Guinea (46 percent). The figures suggest that a girl was one third less likely in 2014 to undergo FGM than she was 30 years ago. According to a 2018 study published in BMJ Global Health , the prevalence within the 0–14 year old group fell in East Africa from 71.4 percent in 1995 to 8 percent in 2016; in North Africa from 57.7 percent in 1990 to 14.1 percent in 2015; and in West Africa from 73.6 percent in 1996 to 25.4 percent in 2017. If
3471-564: The Fulani in Chad, while in Nigeria the Fulani are the only large ethnic group in the country not to practise it. In Sierra Leone, the predominantly Christian Creole people are the only ethnicity not known to practice FGM or participate in Bondo society rituals. Kenyan FGM ceremony — Stephanie Welsh, Newhouse News Service Dahabo Musa, a Somali woman, described infibulation in
3560-546: The Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Walker also won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1983. Mel Watkins of the New York Times Book Review wrote that it is a "striking and consummately well-written novel", praising its powerful emotional impact and epistolary structure. It was also named a PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick. The book received greater scrutiny amidst controversy surrounding
3649-472: The WHO in 1995 included gishiri cutting and angurya cutting, found in Nigeria and Niger. These were removed from the WHO's 2008 definition because of insufficient information about prevalence and consequences. Angurya cutting is excision of the hymen , usually performed seven days after birth. Gishiri cutting involves cutting the vagina's front or back wall with a blade or penknife, performed in response to infertility, obstructed labour, and other conditions. In
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3738-529: The book was listed on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's "best-loved novels." The novel has been adapted into various other media, including feature films in 1985 and 2023 , a 2005 musical , and a 2008 radio serial on Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4 . Celie, a poor African-American girl, lives in rural Georgia in the early 1900s. She writes letters to God because her father Alphonso beats and rapes her. Due to
3827-602: The case of Type III, other factors include how small a hole was left for the passage of urine and menstrual blood, whether surgical thread was used instead of agave or acacia thorns, and whether the procedure was performed more than once (for example, to close an opening regarded as too wide or re-open one too small). Common short-term complications include swelling, excessive bleeding, pain, urine retention , and healing problems/ wound infection . A 2014 systematic review of 56 studies suggested that over one in ten girls and women undergoing any form of FGM, including symbolic nicking of
3916-402: The child squats on a stool or mat while adults pull her legs open; a local anaesthetic is applied if available: The element of speed and surprise is vital and the circumciser immediately grabs the clitoris by pinching it between her nails aiming to amputate it with a slash. The organ is then shown to the senior female relatives of the child who will decide whether the amount that has been removed
4005-481: The clitoral glans and outer labia . Type IIa is removal of the inner labia; Type IIb, removal of the clitoral glans and inner labia; and Type IIc, removal of the clitoral glans, inner and outer labia. Excision in French can refer to any form of FGM. — Swiss Medical Weekly Type III ( infibulation or pharaonic circumcision), the "sewn closed" category, is the removal of the external genitalia and fusion of
4094-404: The clitoris (Type IV), experience immediate complications, although the risks increased with Type III. The review also suggested that there was under-reporting. Other short-term complications include fatal bleeding, anaemia , urinary infection , septicaemia , tetanus , gangrene , necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating disease), and endometritis . It is not known how many girls and women die as
4183-465: The clitoris. An infibulated girl may be left with an opening as small as 2–3 mm, which can cause prolonged, drop-by-drop urination , pain while urinating , and a feeling of needing to urinate all the time. Urine may collect underneath the scar, leaving the area under the skin constantly wet, which can lead to infection and the formation of small stones. The opening is larger in women who are sexually active or have given birth by vaginal delivery, but
4272-629: The countries for which national figures were available in 2000–2010, most girls had been cut by age five. Over 80 percent (of those cut) are cut before the age of five in Nigeria, Mali, Eritrea, Ghana and Mauritania. The 1997 Demographic and Health Survey in Yemen found that 76 percent of girls had been cut within two weeks of birth. The percentage is reversed in Somalia, Egypt, Chad, and the Central African Republic, where over 80 percent (of those cut) are cut between five and 14. Just as
4361-539: The country a national prevalence of eight percent. The practice is sometimes an ethnic marker, but it may differ along national lines. For example, in the northeastern regions of Ethiopia and Kenya, which share a border with Somalia, the Somali people practise FGM at around the same rate as they do in Somalia. But in Guinea all Fulani women responding to a survey in 2012 said they had experienced FGM, against 12 percent of
4450-640: The country maintained its system of apartheid . Epistolary novel Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 227561549 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:37:20 GMT Female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation ( FGM ) (also known as female genital cutting , female genital mutilation/cutting ( FGM/C ) and female circumcision )
4539-582: The culture that practices FGM and learn that their condition is not the norm, but within the practicing culture, they may view their FGM with pride because for them it signifies beauty, respect for tradition, chastity and hygiene. Studies on sexual function have also been small. A 2013 meta-analysis of 15 studies involving 12,671 women from seven countries concluded that women with FGM were twice as likely to report no sexual desire and 52 percent more likely to report dyspareunia (painful sexual intercourse). One-third reported reduced sexual feelings. According to
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#17327830407364628-528: The current rate of decline continues, the number of girls cut will nevertheless continue to rise because of population growth, according to UNICEF in 2014; they estimate that the figure will increase from 3.6 million a year in 2013 to 4.1 million in 2050. Surveys have found FGM to be more common in rural areas, less common in most countries among girls from the wealthiest homes, and (except in Sudan and Somalia) less common in girls whose mothers had access to primary or secondary/higher education. In Somalia and Sudan
4717-500: The effort of penetrating an infibulation. The local preference for dry sex causes women to introduce substances into the vagina to reduce lubrication, including leaves, tree bark, toothpaste and Vicks menthol rub . The WHO includes this practice within Type IV FGM, because the added friction during intercourse can cause lacerations and increase the risk of infection. Because of the smooth appearance of an infibulated vulva, there
4806-418: The following: (1) cut, no flesh removed (symbolic nicking); (2) cut, some flesh removed; (3) sewn closed; or (4) type not determined/unsure/doesn't know. The most common procedures fall within the "cut, some flesh removed" category and involve complete or partial removal of the clitoral glans. The World Health Organization (a UN agency) created a more detailed typology in 1997: Types I–II vary in how much tissue
4895-548: The foreskins or labia of slaves to prevent sexual intercourse. The surgical infibulation of women came to be known as pharaonic circumcision in Sudan and as Sudanese circumcision in Egypt . In Somalia , it is known simply as qodob ("to sew up"). The procedures are generally performed by a traditional cutter ( exciseuse ) in the girls' homes, with or without anaesthesia. The cutter is usually an older woman, but in communities where
4984-549: The grandmothers arranged a visit to relatives. Gerry Mackie has compared the practice to footbinding . Like FGM, footbinding was carried out on young girls, nearly universal where practised, tied to ideas about honour, chastity, and appropriate marriage, and "supported and transmitted" by women. FGM practitioners see the procedures as marking not only ethnic boundaries but also gender differences. According to this view, male circumcision defeminizes men while FGM demasculinizes women. Fuambai Ahmadu , an anthropologist and member of
5073-410: The harm presented by "the lawfulness of both female genital cosmetic surgeries and male circumcision" in the negation of FGM/C prevention campaigns. The participants, however, differed in their views on the ban of female genital cosmetic surgeries and regular vulvar checkups of female children. Standard questionnaires from United Nations bodies ask women whether they or their daughters have undergone
5162-436: The help of the "little knife". This creates a tear which they gradually rip more and more until the opening is sufficient to admit the penis. Type IV is "[a]ll other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes", including pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization. It includes nicking of the clitoris (symbolic circumcision), burning or scarring the genitals, and introducing substances into
5251-415: The inner and outer labia and closure of the vulva (type 3). In this last procedure, known as infibulation , a small hole is left for the passage of urine and menstrual fluid , the vagina is opened for intercourse and opened further for childbirth. The practice is rooted in gender inequality , attempts to control female sexuality , religious beliefs and ideas about purity, modesty, and beauty. It
5340-660: The insult back, the Zabarma girls would ask their mothers, "What's the matter? Don't we have razor blades like the Arabs?" Because of poor access to information, and because practitioners downplay the causal connection, women may not associate the health consequences with the procedure. Lala Baldé, president of a women's association in Medina Cherif, a village in Senegal, told Mackie in 1998 that when girls fell ill or died, it
5429-708: The male barber has assumed the role of health worker, he will also perform FGM. When traditional cutters are involved, non-sterile devices are likely to be used, including knives, razors, scissors, glass, sharpened rocks, and fingernails. According to a nurse in Uganda, quoted in 2007 in The Lancet , a cutter would use one knife on up to 30 girls at a time. In several countries, health professionals are involved; in Egypt, 77 percent of FGM procedures, and in Indonesia over 50 percent, were performed by medical professionals as of 2008 and 2016. The WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA issued
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#17327830407365518-582: The more extensive FGM procedures. Infibulated women may try to make childbirth easier by eating less during pregnancy to reduce the baby's size. In women with vesicovaginal or rectovaginal fistulae, it is difficult to obtain clear urine samples as part of prenatal care, making the diagnosis of conditions such as pre-eclampsia harder. Cervical evaluation during labour may be impeded and labour prolonged or obstructed. Third-degree laceration (tears), anal-sphincter damage and emergency caesarean section are more common in infibulated women. Neonatal mortality
5607-585: The novel and film with lyrics and music by Stephen Bray , Brenda Russell and Allee Willis , and book by Marsha Norman opened at The Broadway Theatre in New York City. The show was produced by Scott Sanders , Quincy Jones , Harvey Weinstein , and Oprah Winfrey , who was also an investor. In 2008, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a radio adaptation of the novel in ten 15-minute episodes as a Woman's Hour serial with Nadine Marshall as Celie, Nikki Amuka-Bird , Nina Sosanya and Eamonn Walker . The script
5696-421: The practice is not without its critics, particularly among anthropologists , who have raised questions about cultural relativism and the universality of human rights. According to the UNICEF, international FGM rates have risen significantly in recent years, from an estimated 200 million in 2016 to 230 million in 2024, with progress towards its abandonment stalling or reversing in many affected countries. Until
5785-403: The practice should continue. In several surveys since 2006, over 50 percent of women in Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the Gambia, and Egypt supported FGM's continuance, while elsewhere in Africa, Iraq, and Yemen most said it should end, although in several countries only by a narrow margin. Against the argument that women willingly choose FGM for their daughters, UNICEF calls the practice
5874-596: The presence of scar tissue. According to the study, FGM was associated with an increased risk to the mother of damage to the perineum and excessive blood loss , as well as a need to resuscitate the baby, and stillbirth , perhaps because of a long second stage of labour . According to a 2015 systematic review there is little high-quality information available on the psychological effects of FGM. Several small studies have concluded that women with FGM develop anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder . Feelings of shame and betrayal can develop when women leave
5963-588: The prevalence in these countries. As of 2023 , UNICEF reported that "The highest levels of support for FGM can be found in Mali, Sierra Leone, Guinea, the Gambia, Somalia, and Egypt, where more than half of the female population thinks the practice should continue". Prevalence figures for the 15–19 age group and younger show a downward trend. For example, Burkina Faso fell from 89 percent (1980) to 58 percent (2010); Egypt from 97 percent (1985) to 70 percent (2015); and Kenya from 41 percent (1984) to 11 percent (2014). Beginning in 2010, household surveys asked women about
6052-491: The rape, she gives birth to two children, Olivia and Adam, whom Alphonso takes away. A farmer identified as "Mister" (Mr. __) asks to marry her younger sister Nettie, but Alphonso offers him Celie instead. Celie is abused by Mister and mistreated by his prior children. Nettie runs away and stays with Celie, but Mister eventually makes her leave after she refuses his unwanted sexual advances. Nettie promises to write, Celie never receives any letters, and Celie concludes that she
6141-489: The release of the film adaptation in 1985. The controversy centered around the depiction of black men, which some critics saw as feeding stereotypical narratives of black male violence, while others found the representation compelling and relatable. On November 5, 2019, the BBC News listed The Color Purple on its list of the 100 most influential novels . Though the novel has garnered critical acclaim, it has also been
6230-551: The remaining hole is too large in the view of the girl's family, the procedure is repeated. The vagina is opened for sexual intercourse, for the first time either by a midwife with a knife or by the woman's husband with his penis. In some areas, including Somaliland, female relatives of the bride and groom might watch the opening of the vagina to check that the girl is a virgin. The woman is opened further for childbirth ( defibulation or deinfibulation ), and closed again afterwards ( reinfibulation ). Reinfibulation can involve cutting
6319-525: The same facial scarring ritual. As Celie realizes that she is content without Shug, Shug returns, having ended her relationship with Germaine. Nettie, Samuel, Olivia, Adam and Tashi arrive at Celie's house. Nettie and Celie reunite after 30 years, introducing one another to their respective families. The Color Purple won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983, making Walker the first black woman to win for fiction; in 1950 Gwendolyn Brooks had won
6408-415: The situation was reversed: in Somalia, the mothers' access to secondary/higher education was accompanied by a rise in prevalence of FGM in their daughters, and in Sudan, access to any education was accompanied by a rise. FGM is not invariably a rite of passage between childhood and adulthood but is often performed on much younger children. Girls are most commonly cut shortly after birth to age 15. In half
6497-445: The skin has been removed are well approximated. The wound is now ready to be stitched or for thorns to be applied. If a needle and thread are being used, close tight sutures will be placed to ensure that a flap of skin covers the vulva and extends from the mons veneris to the perineum, and which, after the wound heals, will form a bridge of scar tissue that will totally occlude the vaginal introitus. The amputated parts might be placed in
6586-470: The subject of controversy. The American Library Association placed it on the list of top hundred banned and challenged books in the United States from 1990 to 1999 (17), 2000 to 2009 (17), and 2010 to 2019 (50), as well as the top ten list for 2007 (6) and 2009 (9). Commonly cited justifications for banning the book include sexual explicitness, explicit language, violence, and homosexuality. The novel
6675-408: The task is often accomplished by a midwife under conditions of great secrecy, since this reflects negatively on the man's potency. Some who are unable to penetrate their wives manage to get them pregnant in spite of the infibulation, and the woman's vaginal passage is then cut open to allow birth to take place. ... Those men who do manage to penetrate their wives do so often, or perhaps always, with
6764-836: The term female genital mutilation in the title of a paper in American Ethnologist , and four years later Fran Hosken called it mutilation in her influential The Hosken Report: Genital and Sexual Mutilation of Females . The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children began referring to it as female genital mutilation in 1990, and the World Health Organization (WHO) followed suit in 1991. Other English terms include female genital cutting (FGC) and female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), preferred by those who work with practitioners. In countries where FGM
6853-573: The tools to make their own decisions. In 1997, using the Tostan program, Malicounda Bambara in Senegal became the first village to abandon FGM. By August 2019, 8,800 communities in eight countries had pledged to abandon FGM and child marriage . Surveys have shown a widespread belief, particularly in Mali, Mauritania, Guinea, and Egypt, that FGM is a religious requirement. Gruenbaum has argued that practitioners may not distinguish between religion, tradition, and chastity, making it difficult to interpret
6942-412: The two women become friends. Shug returns to town, newly married to a man called Grady. Together, they learn that Mister has hidden letters from Nettie for years. In the letters, Nettie says she has befriended a missionary couple, Samuel and Corrine, and gone to Africa with them. Samuel and Corrine had unwittingly adopted Adam and Olivia. Through Samuel's story of the adoption, Nettie learns that Alphonso
7031-680: The type of FGM is often linked to ethnicity, so is the mean age. In Kenya, for example, the Kisi cut around age 10 and the Kamba at 16. A country's national prevalence often reflects a high sub-national prevalence among certain ethnicities, rather than a widespread practice. In Iraq, for example, FGM is found mostly among the Kurds in Erbil (58 percent prevalence within age group 15–49, as of 2011), Sulaymaniyah (54 percent) and Kirkuk (20 percent), giving
7120-458: The vagina again to restore the pinhole size of the first infibulation. This might be performed before marriage, and after childbirth, divorce and widowhood. Hanny Lightfoot-Klein interviewed hundreds of women and men in Sudan in the 1980s about sexual intercourse with Type III: The penetration of the bride's infibulation takes anywhere from 3 or 4 days to several months. Some men are unable to penetrate their wives at all (in my study over 15%), and
7209-474: The vagina and uterus. Complete obstruction of the vagina can result in hematocolpos and hematometra (where the vagina and uterus fill with menstrual blood). The swelling of the abdomen and lack of menstruation can resemble pregnancy. Asma El Dareer , a Sudanese physician, reported in 1979 that a girl in Sudan with this condition was killed by her family. FGM may place women at higher risk of problems during pregnancy and childbirth, which are more common with
7298-449: The vagina to tighten it. Labia stretching is also categorized as Type IV. Common in southern and eastern Africa, the practice is supposed to enhance sexual pleasure for the man and add to the sense of a woman as a closed space. From the age of eight, girls are encouraged to stretch their inner labia using sticks and massage. Girls in Uganda are told they may have difficulty giving birth without stretched labia. A definition of FGM from
7387-439: The women make love. Shug tells Celie to go with her and they can be together as girlfriends and live freely. The day of Shug's departure arrives and Celie packs her bags and is about to leave with her but she is caught by Mister and Shug leaves while Celie suffers from the departure of her beloved and fears what awaits her now with Mister. Sofia returns for a visit and gets into a fight with Harpo's new girlfriend, Squeak. She has
7476-502: The women's confusion over which type of FGM they experienced, or even whether they experienced it. Studies have suggested that survey responses are unreliable. A 2003 study in Ghana found that in 1995 four percent said they had not undergone FGM, but in 2000 said they had, while 11 percent switched in the other direction. In Tanzania in 2005, 66 percent reported FGM, but a medical exam found that 73 percent had undergone it. In Sudan in 2006,
7565-524: The wound. The inner and/or outer labia are cut away, with or without removal of the clitoral glans. Type III is found largely in northeast Africa, particularly Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan (although not in South Sudan). According to one 2008 estimate, over eight million women in Africa are living with Type III FGM. According to UNFPA in 2010, 20 percent of women with FGM have been infibulated. In Somalia, according to Edna Adan Ismail ,
7654-424: Was adapted into a film of the same name in 1985. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and stars Whoopi Goldberg as Celie, Danny Glover as Albert, and Oprah Winfrey as Sofia. Though nominated for eleven Academy Awards , it won none. This perceived snubbing ignited controversy because many critics, including Roger Ebert, considered it the best picture of the year. On December 1, 2005, a musical adaptation of
7743-499: Was attributed to evil spirits. When informed of the causal relationship between FGM and ill health, Mackie wrote, the women broke down and wept. He argued that surveys taken before and after this sharing of information would show very different levels of support for FGM. The American non-profit group Tostan , founded by Molly Melching in 1991, introduced community-empowerment programs in several countries that focus on local democracy, literacy, and education about healthcare, giving women
7832-533: Was by Patricia Cumper and in 2009 the production received the Sony Radio Academy Awards Silver Drama Award. In 2018, Warner Bros. announced that they would be releasing a new film adaptation of The Color Purple , based on the musical. Spielberg and Quincy Jones return to produce this version, along with the stage musical's producers Scott Sanders and Oprah Winfrey. The film opened on December 25, 2023. As part of
7921-443: Was written by Dara Carr of Macro International in 1997. Questions the women are asked during the surveys include: "Was the genital area just nicked/cut without removing any flesh? Was any flesh (or something) removed from the genital area? Was your genital area sewn?" Most women report "cut, some flesh removed" (Types I and II). Type I is the most common form in Egypt, and in the southern parts of Nigeria. Type III (infibulation)
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