아프리카전통, 소녀들의 성기 잘라내는 비위생적 수술(FGM) 여전히...

우리가 살아가는 지구촌에는 지역에 따라 특이한 풍습들이 참으로 많다. 훈훈한 인정을 나누면 살아가는 마을이 있는가 하면, 몸의 중요한 부위를 날카로운 도구로 잘라내는 의식을, 그것도 이제 갖10세도 되지않은 어린 소녀들을 상대로 행해지는 풍습이다.

인간이 성장하면, 결혼을 하고 가정을 꾸리고 후손을 낳아 예쁘게 잘 키워서 다시 부모가 걸어온길, 즉 결혼을 하고.... 그렇게 인류 역사는 이어진다.  결혼을 하게되면, 성인남녀가 한몸이 되여 성의 감미로움과 희열을 느끼고, 후손을 생산하는 과정을 거친다.

그런데 이러한 창조주의 뜻을 따르지 않고, 남성위주의 사회로 오랜전통을 이어오면서, 여성들도 당연히 즐겨야할 성생활을 느끼지 못하도록 원천적으로 차단하는 무지막지한 삶의 전통이 검은 대륙 아프리카에서 현재도 성행중에 있다는 충격적인 보도를 접하면서,  여성은 오로지 후손을 낳은 도구쯤으로 여기고, 남성은 여러명의 아내를 맘데로 취하는 특권(?)을 누려왔고 앞으로도 이제도는 숫적으로는 줄어들긴하겠지만, 계속될것으로 전망하고 있다.

몇년전 Ethiopia, Africa를 약 한달정도 탐방했었는데, 여행객인 우리 부부에게는 그런 풍습에 대한 설명은 들은적은 없었지만, 거의 나체로 살아가는 원주민촌을 탐방은 했었다. 지금 기억을 돌이켜 보면, 그곳에서도 그러한 풍습이 있지 않았을까?라는 생각을 해본다.

https://lifemeansgo.blogspot.com/2013/04/3-16-mago-national-par-jinka.html

이원천적인 성의 희열을 차단시키는 방법은 대단히 비위생적이고, 위험하고 때로는 생명까지 앗아가는 무서운 불법의료행위로 볼수 있는데, 사용되는 도구는 전에는 사기그릇을 깨서, 발생하는 날카로운 조각을 이용했었고, 오늘날에는 조금 발달(?)해서 날카로운 면도날을 사용하여 잘라내고 있다고 한다. 마취는 아예 생각도 못하고, 조금 위생적이라고 할수있는 방법이 알코홀정도 부위에 문지르고, 바로 어린 소녀들의 생식기의 민감한 부분은 엄마의 손으로 잘려나간다.

"우리 당대에 여성의 FGM을 막도록 전세계는 온힘을 기울여야 한다"라고 세계의 지도자들과 이운동을 펼치는 사람들은 절규한다.

무지한 FGM을 없애기위한 야심찬 맹세는 UK summit 에서 당시의 영국수상 Davis Cameron에 의해 강조되고, 토의의 최우선 주제로 채택되여 토의 됐었다.  FGM은 무엇을 뜻하는것이며, 왜 전세계에서 수백만의 여성과 어린 소녀들이 이런 수술을 받으면서 고통을 받아야 하는가?

더이상 자세히 BBC가 보도한 내용을 여기에 옮기면 구글에서, 노골적인 성적표현이라는 이유를 들어, Warning이 올것이기에 더이상 언급은 할수없다.  아래의 BBC 보도를 보자.

Rates of female genital mutilation (FGM) have fallen dramatically among girls in Africa in the last two decades, according to new research.

The study, published in BMJ Global Health, cited a "huge and significant decline" among under-14s.
The practice involves removing all or part of a girl or woman's external genitalia, including the clitoris.
Some societies treat it as a rite of passage, but human rights groups say it is inhumane and physically dangerous.
In the worst cases, victims can haemorrhage to death after they are cut, or die of infections.
Chronic pain, infertility and menstrual problems can also follow, as well as potentially fatal childbirth complications.

• What does FGM actually involve?
• Botched FGM leaves 50 girls in hospital
• 'This is what it's like to pee after female genital mutilation'

Unicef, the UN children's agency, estimates that 200 million women and girls have undergone FGM worldwide - mostly in parts of Africa and the Middle East.

What did the figures show?

Using data from 29 countries and going back to 1990, the report's authors found that the biggest fall in cutting was in East Africa.
The prevalence rate there dropped from 71% of girls under 14 in 1995, to 8% in 2016, the study said.

In North Africa, the rate fell from almost 60% in 1990 to 14% in 2015.
West Africa also saw a significant drop, from 74% of girls in 1996, to 25% in 2017.
However, campaigners have observed that while younger children are most at risk, older teenagers and young women are also affected by FGM - and the study did not include them.
"We are pleased to see that the numbers are coming down in a lot of countries," said Emma Lightowlers, a spokeswoman for the Africa-focused campaign group 28TooMany. "But it doesn't tell the whole story and there are other groups where cutting takes place after the age of 14.
"It takes place in teenagers, or in fact, even in women in preparation for marriage," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

• UK schoolgirls 'pressured into FGM'
• Kenyan girls hide in school to escape FGM
• My quarrel with a proud FGM cutter

The team behind the report, which includes scientists based in Britain and South Africa, used data gathered for the Demographic Health Survey and Unicef, which covered almost 210,000 children.

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Female genital mutilation

• Includes "the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons"
• Practised in 30 countries in Africa, and some in Asia and the Middle East
• An estimated three million girls and women worldwide are at risk each year
• It is commonly carried out on young girls, often between infancy and the age of 15
• Often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behaviour, to prepare a girl or woman for adulthood and marriage, and to ensure "pure femininity"
• Dangers include severe bleeding, problems urinating, infections, infertility and increased risk of childbirth complications and newborn deaths

Source: World Health Organization

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Why did the study find a drop in FGM?

Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala, a professor of biostatistics at the UK's Northumbria University and the study's lead author, told the BBC the team hadn't looked at the reasons why FGM rates were falling. However, he has "a working hypothesis" that it's down to the attitude of mothers.
"Many international organisations have invested a lot of money... the mothers have been educated," he said.
"If there is any change, we'll be seeing it perhaps through the decision they're going to make for their daughters."

Some parents may simply fail to report having had their daughters cut, he admits - especially in countries which have made FGM illegal.
"That is possible because [in this study] we are relying on the goodwill of the mothers reporting that their daughter was circumcised. There may be fear of the law, or the stigma attached to it.
"In Senegal, for example, we know that people have made public declarations. A huge event - people will gather, and you pledge that you will not be doing this to your daughter. In terms of reporting, then you may be feeling embarrassed having to report that you have done it. This is a very valid point."
Activists hope further research will now examine changes in attitudes to FGM around the world, so the data can be considered in its full context.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46128938