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What immediate medical complications can follow female genital cutting?
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Body modifications and mutilations
Peruvian elongated skulls, trephined male (left) and intact female (right), c. 1000 bc.
Female genital cutting (FGC) is a harmful practice that poses significant risks to the health and well-being of girls and women. Because these procedures are frequently performed in non-medical settings without anesthesia and under unhygienic conditionsâoften using tools such as razor blades, knives, or broken glassâthey carry severe immediate medical risks.12
Immediate medical complications following the procedure include:
- Severe bleeding: The cutting of genital tissue can lead to significant, life-threatening hemorrhage.12
- Debilitating pain: The procedure is inherently traumatic and causes intense, immediate physical suffering.12
- Infections: Due to the lack of sterile environments and instruments, girls are at high risk for tetanus and other serious infections.12
- Fever: Systemic reactions to the trauma and infection often manifest as fever.2
- Death: In severe cases, the combination of shock, hemorrhage, and infection can result in the death of the individual.12
The World Health Organization and other international bodies classify FGC as a violation of human rights, emphasizing that it is an unnecessary and dangerous practice that causes profound physical and psychological harm.2