For years now, Female Genital Cutting (FGC) has been a common cultural practice
amongst many tribes throughout Africa and in some other parts of the world. This topic of
gender inequality always raises attention due to the violation of human rights as defined by
the United Nations. FGC is a procedure given to a woman either at birth or any time
during the adolescent life; it is the removal of the external female genitalia. This practice is
commonly done as a cultural tradition as rite of passage into woman hood and a means to
keep the child chaste and pure.
A solution that has seemed to be the most successful throughout the villages in Africa, is
the continuous education of the health risks caused by female genital mutilation. By
educating the women in these villages on the short term and long term health risks, we are
giving them the opportunity to make the decision of using different methods in place of
FGM. Along with educating the women of these villages, their own cultural views are used
to show them different ways to celebrate the children’s rite into womanhood. According to
Armstrong, around eight hundred villages have discontinued the use of FGM and has
saved around forty-three thousand girls. The downside to this solution is that education can
only go so far. Continuous education on this issue can only give these women knowledge