this post was submitted on 07 Feb 2026

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105

UN: 4.5 million girls at risk of genital mutilation in 2026 (www.dw.com)

submitted 1 day ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

24 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Many of the girls at risk of FGM are under the age of 5, the UN says. Around 230 million women and girls around the world are survivors of the practice.

all 28 comments

sorted by: hot top controversial new old

[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 32 points 1 day ago (1 children)

To put a stop to this, we need to first banish the thought that it's okay if the child/infant is male. It's a form of sexism and it's honestly pretty ugly.

The dialogue should generally go that all genital mutilation of infants and children is wrong for any reason excepting bona fide medical necessity as determined by spiritually/religiously/politically neutral medical providers. And that anyone supporting infant genital mutilation, even if it's only for one sex/gender, race, religion, whatever, should be seen as the same as someone supporting infant genital mutilation for anyone.

[–] Firebirdie713@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 1 day ago

This also needs to apply for intersex infants. It is currently standard practice to try to surgically "correct" any infants that display intersex traits at birth, regardless if there is an actual medical necessity.

Of course, this would also require adding a third option to standard birth certificates, or removing assigned sex from the certificates, which reactionary chuds would throw a fit over.

[–] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

How many boys will be circumcised in America alone this year?

[–] HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Whataboutism.

Both are bad and should be illegal. However FGM is by far typically more brutal, invasive, unsanitary and deadly.

[–] poopkins@lemmy.world 3 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

What are you suggesting? That female genial mutilation be made less brutal, less invasive, less unsanitary or less lethal?

The point is that we should ban any kind of mutilation.

[–] HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world -1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Well that's the dumbest possible interpretation anyone could have possibly had.

[–] poopkins@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

You've claimed we should ignore other forms of mutilation because "whataboutism." I think it's reasonable to argue that any kind of mutilation should be prohibited, instead of carving out exceptions. By that logic, my question remains: do you disagree, or should we instead just try to make female genital mutilation less bad?

[–] HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world -1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Here's a bonus since you can't seem to get simple facta through your skull.

FGM is estimated to cause around 44.3k deaths of young girls annually

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10432559/

On the other hand:

Severe to catastrophic complications, including death, are so rare that they are reported only as individual case reports.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision?wprov=sfla1

Which again, goes back to my fucking point that you're somehow too dense to understand.

The reason there's a greater concern over FGM, is because it actually has significantly higher rates of adverse effects, including death

[–] poopkins@lemmy.world 0 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

You have for some reason decided that I disagree with you, but I've not. I've only tried to point out the escape hatch for proponents of mutilation to argue for, and why the comment that you originally replied to is not "whataboutism."

[–] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 4 points 7 hours ago

Bro just wants to be mad. This is Lemmy

[–] Ostrichgrif@lemmy.world -2 points 7 hours ago

Go get some fresh air man

[–] HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world 0 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

You've claimed we should ignore other forms of mutilation because "whataboutism."

Wrong, bitch.

I told that other user that they were doing a whataboutism... because they were fucking doing a whataboutism. They were effectively delegitimizing FGM because "well what about MGM?!?!?".

Just because there's an effort and focus on FGM doesn't mean there is none for MGM. Yet that user was suggesting otherwise.

Its the same incel logic that states the existence of feminism and women's empowerment takes away from and harms men. It doesn't.

I think it's reasonable to argue that any kind of mutilation should be prohibited,

Except that isn't what that user was saying. It wasn't "and we should also combat MGM". It was "OH YEAH? WELL WHAT ABOUT MGM HUH?!?! WHY ARENT YOU FOCUSING ON THAT RIGHT NOW?!?!"

instead of carving out exceptions. By that logic, my question remains: do you disagree, or should we instead just try to make female genital mutilation less bad?

No, your question is still suprememly fucking stupid and your interpretation is exceptionally moronic.

FGM and MGM should both be banned, and any suggestion that my stance was otherwise is you yourself being incredibly dense.

[–] poopkins@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago

HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world wrote:

Wrong, bitch.

You seem terribly upset, but there's no need for name-calling. Nobody is "delegitimizing" anything here except what you are making of others inputs to the discourse.

For what it's worth, we both agree mutilation is wrong and should be prohibited, so there's really no reason to be so angry and childish in the first place.

[–] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago

It's not "whatabout" it's "this too." That circumcision isn't brutal, invasive, unsanitary, and deadly just shows how fucked things get when genital mutilation is normalized

[–] EmpireInDecay@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago (3 children)

We'll just ignore the male genital mutilation of circumcision

[–] TheDoozer@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

I get what you are saying, but that's not the way to do it.

~~"What about male genital mutilation?"~~

"We should ban all mutilation of genitals of children. It is barbaric. Some more than others, but it's all bad."

If all you do is respond with essentially "what about this other thing that this particular article isn't talking about," it derails the conversation of the current article. Saying that all aspects of the subject if the article are bad and have no place in society says "I agree with this, and let's extend it further."

[–] Chippys_mittens@lemmy.world 7 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (1 children)

Mods removed my former reply so I'll just say, read or look into "desert flower", "seven" or "stitch". If you think circumcision is tantamount to cutting a clit off, cauterizing large sections, or sewing the vagina semi-permanently shut. This is all typically as young girls not as babies. The trauma experienced cements the way they see the world values them. CIRCUMCISION IS BAD, IT IS NOT THE SAME THING.

[–] ms_lane@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

False equivalence.

Things done in caves in Afganistan aren't comparable to things done in a theatre in Iran. Yet both are brutal.

[–] Chippys_mittens@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

One is objectively demonstrably worse. I'm not going to an anti circumcision post and saying "hey what about female genital mutilation" as is happening here. For what goal I'd add? I can't see an objective aside from attempting to diminish the suffering being discussed. Obscuring the issue by conflating it with a completely different thing is wrong.

[–] Gathorall@lemmy.world -1 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

The objective is that when you champion pointless torture you're for torture, you're just thinking you stop at the right point. You're no better than a bigot who only hates a certain nationality. As long as circumsion is legal this isn't a moral stance, it is a cultural preference, bigotry.

[–] Chippys_mittens@lemmy.world 0 points 7 hours ago

I literally say that circumcision is bad but a completely different issue.

[–] Wildmimic@anarchist.nexus 2 points 1 day ago

This is fucking barbaric.