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All these factors correlate with increased neglect of, and violence towards, children, either from the father or from step-mothers. Data from 22 sub-Saharan African countries finding that children of (rich) polygynous families were 24.4% more likely to die compared with children of (poor) monogamous families. Fathers have less involvement with their many wives, and even less involvement with their even more numerous children . Islam encourages parents, relatives and teachers to treat and discipline children in ways that are considered unnecessarily harsh in the non-Muslim world. All this and the physical violence and wife-beating that is common in polygynous/Islamic families normalises the cruelty of FGM. | All these factors correlate with increased neglect of, and violence towards, children, either from the father or from step-mothers. Data from 22 sub-Saharan African countries finding that children of (rich) polygynous families were 24.4% more likely to die compared with children of (poor) monogamous families. Fathers have less involvement with their many wives, and even less involvement with their even more numerous children . Islam encourages parents, relatives and teachers to treat and discipline children in ways that are considered unnecessarily harsh in the non-Muslim world. All this and the physical violence and wife-beating that is common in polygynous/Islamic families normalises the cruelty of FGM. | ||
==The | ==The Psychology of FGM== | ||
=== FGM as a Rite of Passage === | ===FGM as a Rite of Passage=== | ||
Islamic FGM is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a 'Rite of Passage'. FGM is functional (as a chastity assurance measure) and technical (its performance is more in the nature of, for example, a visit to the dentist than a religious service) whereas Rites of Passage are essentially symbolic. The FGM practiced where Islamic influence is weakest (e.g. coastal West Africa) often takes on aspects of initiation ritual. The Islamic anxieties around 'purity' are, for example, entirely absent from the the FGM practiced by the Liberian Sandé. | Islamic FGM is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a 'Rite of Passage'. FGM is functional (as a chastity assurance measure) and technical (its performance is more in the nature of, for example, a visit to the dentist than a religious service) whereas Rites of Passage are essentially symbolic. The FGM practiced where Islamic influence is weakest (e.g. coastal West Africa) often takes on aspects of initiation ritual. The Islamic anxieties around 'purity' are, for example, entirely absent from the the FGM practiced by the Liberian Sandé. | ||
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|Remember, '''there were no anesthetics''' because for we you have to walk the walk, you have to dance the dance. It's what makes you a woman. When you feel that pain it shows you that pain is all you know as a woman.}} | |Remember, '''there were no anesthetics''' because for we you have to walk the walk, you have to dance the dance. It's what makes you a woman. When you feel that pain it shows you that pain is all you know as a woman.}} | ||
=== The | ===The Uses of Trauma=== | ||
increased visibility of initiation rits and victims skews narrative | increased visibility of initiation rits and victims skews narrative | ||
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- chastiry assurance | - chastiry assurance | ||