Egyptian girl dies during female circumcision

[Ban Hammer 13,346]

CAIRO (AFP) - A 13-year-old Egyptian girl has died during an illegal operation to mutilate her genitalia, the Al-Masri Al-Yom daily reported on Saturday.

Karima Rahim Massud died as the result of problems with the anasthaesia in the Nile Delta village of Gharbiya. Her death was discovered after her father sought a death certificate from another doctor.

The medical practice where the operation took place has been closed, and the doctor is being interrogated, the newspaper said.

Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, is a practice that dates back to pharaonic times in Egypt. It is common in a band that stretches from Senegal in West Africa to Somalia on the east coast, and from Egypt in the north to Tanzania in the south.

The practice, which affects both Muslim and Christian women in Egypt, was banned in 1997 but doctors were allowed to operate "in exceptional cases."

Female circumcision can cause death through haemorraging and later complications during childbirth. It also carries risks of infection, urinary tract problems and mental trauma.

In June, following the death of 12-year-old Bedur Ahmed Shaker, Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali issued a decree banning every doctor and member of the medical profession from performing the procedure.

The ban must still be translated into law and could face a tough debate in parliament, but is likely to be passed.

A government survey in 2000 said the practice was carried out on 97 percent of the country's women aged between 15 and 45 years of age.

Religious leaders, usually silent on taboos relating to female sexuality, have also started to speak out against the practice, which many Egyptians believe is a duty under Islam and Christianity.

After the death of Shaker, chief mufti Ali Gomaa declared female circumcision forbidden under Islam.

Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, the sheikh of Al-Azhar university, the top Sunni Muslim authority, and Coptic Patriarch Chenouda III also declared it had "no foundation in the religious texts" of either Islam or Christianity.

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[Hilarious Clinton 452]

savages

[Jasman0717 9]

Sick

[MissStacey 1]

Truly horrific.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Karima Rahim Massud died as the result of problems with the anasthaesia in the Nile Delta village of Gharbiya.

In more traditional settings, this wouldn't have happened as there wouldn't have been any anasthaesia that could have caused problems.

Edited August 12, 2007 by Mr. Big Dog

[GaryC 7]

Karima Rahim Massud died as the result of problems with the anasthaesia in the Nile Delta village of Gharbiya.

In more traditional settings, this wouldn't have happened as there wouldn't have been any anasthaesia that could have caused problems.

It's still sick regardless.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Karima Rahim Massud died as the result of problems with the anasthaesia in the Nile Delta village of Gharbiya.

In more traditional settings, this wouldn't have happened as there wouldn't have been any anasthaesia that could have caused problems.

It's still sick regardless.

Of course it is.

[doodlebug 3]

It used to be a common practice back in the day, according to my husband. He said that once the 70'####### though people stopped doing it as much.

[GaryC 7]

It used to be a common practice back in the day, according to my husband. He said that once the 70'####### though people stopped doing it as much.

I understand the social reasons for doing it, to assure the virginity of a bride and try to encourage fidelity once married. But I have never understood the mechanism that enables someone the think they have the right to impose mutilation on someone to attain those goals of purity and fidelity. It seems so barbaric that I don't understand how they rationalize the practice.

[Ta Ta 1]

They rationalize it as woman being property, like livestock.

Sad indeed !

[Geist 0]

Amusing to see though that while most Americans find female circumcision barbaric and horrifying, they're just fine with male circumcision.

[GaryC 7]

Amusing to see though that while most Americans find female circumcision barbaric and horrifying, they're just fine with male circumcision.

Male circumcision isn't the same thing at all. Speaking as one that has been "clipped" it isn't mutilation. This form of female circumcision most certainly is.

[doodlebug 3]

Amusing to see though that while most Americans find female circumcision barbaric and horrifying, they're just fine with male circumcision.

It's much different. Men can still achieve orgasm after being circumcized but women cannot. As a matter of fact the very act of woman circumcision effects them for the rest of their life including very painful and life threatening childbirth. It's definitely barbaric, as my husband agrees, but back before the 70's people really didn't think that much into it. They just did it because you were supposed to, whether you were Christian, Muslim or whatever. I don't think it's only prevalent in Egypt either.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Amusing to see though that while most Americans find female circumcision barbaric and horrifying, they're just fine with male circumcision.

The comparison is odd. Do you really believe that is a valid comparison?

Do you know what is being cut in case of female mutilation vs. male circumcision?

Do you?

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Amusing to see though that while most Americans find female circumcision barbaric and horrifying, they're just fine with male circumcision.

Wow. Like comparing a beheading to a haircut.