{"id":499,"date":"2023-11-01T03:34:56","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T03:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geiarrow.org\/?page_id=499"},"modified":"2026-04-28T17:26:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T09:26:35","slug":"female-genital-mutilation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/arrow.org.my\/gei\/female-genital-mutilation\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Genital Mutilation"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Female Genital Mutilation<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Female genital cutting is a contentious subject in Malaysia. The divide between those who believe the practice should continue and those who do not was compounded in 2009 after the National Fatwa Committee issued a fatwa.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Female Genital Mutilation<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Female circumcision \u2013 also known as female genital cutting or female genital mutilation has been a controversial and sensitive matter in Malaysia. Regrettably, research on female circumcision in Malaysia scarce. In 2009, the National Fatwa Committee issued fatwa that made it obligatory (wajib) for Muslim women to be circumcised unless this was potentially harmful to their wellbeing. All the same, there is still no consensus on this position among Muslim and religious leaders in the country.<\/span><\/p>

Over 90% of Muslim women in the country have been circumcised. Malaysian women provided an array of reasons to subscribing to the practice;\u00a0 pricking or inflicting a superficial cut on the skin or tip of the clitoris when they were infants and up to the age of six\u201d (FRHAM and ARROW, 2021). The Malaysian government declared that \u201cMalaysia\u2019s kind of FGM\/C\u201d is the kind of female circumcision that falls under Type 4 of the World Health Organization FGM classification scheme, i.e., \u201call other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, scraping and cauterising the genital area.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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In 2012<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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FGM\/C is performed based on traditions by village housewives. However, as of late, medical doctors themselves carry out the practice. In 2012, the Ministry of Health proposed a set of guidelines to reclassify female circumcision as a medical practice. The motivation of this guideline is to safeguard women and girls from harm by providing access to having the procedure done at government healthcare facilities.<\/span><\/p>

It is important to not be misguided by the above fact as medicalisation of FGM\/C is still against women and girls\u2019 rights. In addition, the medical guideline proposed by the Ministry of Health contradicts the WHO global medical strategy.<\/span><\/p>

Many Malaysians, including important agencies, believe that because female circumcision in this country is \u201charmless and did not have an impact on the sexual health of women,\u201d there is no need to eradicate it. It is high time we ponder on our set of beliefs and culture – \u201cwhy invade women and girls\u2019 bodies as though they are ours to decide?\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Learn more about the fight to end FGM\/C in Asia by following the Asia Network to End FGM\/C: <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Read Other Key Issues<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Child Marriage<\/a><\/h3><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Comprehensive Sexuality Education<\/a><\/h3><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Discrimination Towards Sexual And Gender Minorities<\/a><\/h3><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Female Genital Mutilation<\/a><\/h3><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Services<\/a><\/h3><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Gender Based Violence<\/a><\/h3><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Female Genital Mutilation Female genital cutting is a contentious subject in Malaysia. The divide between those who believe the practice should continue and those who do not was compounded in 2009 after the National Fatwa Committee issued a fatwa. Female Genital Mutilation Female circumcision \u2013 also known as female genital cutting or female genital mutilation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-499","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arrow.org.my\/gei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arrow.org.my\/gei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arrow.org.my\/gei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arrow.org.my\/gei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arrow.org.my\/gei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499"}],"version-history":[{"count":64,"href":"https:\/\/arrow.org.my\/gei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2258,"href":"https:\/\/arrow.org.my\/gei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/499\/revisions\/2258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arrow.org.my\/gei\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}