Female Genital Modification

Female genital modification, or FGM, is often times performed as an unnessecary surgery, with the intent being to decrease a woman's sexual desire and preserve virginity. In many cultures, especially in Africa and the Middle East, virgin girls are highly valued and the only females available for marriage. Since marriage is seen as a way of joining families, creating kinship ties, and bolstering wealth, many mothers and fathers consent to having their daughters "modified."
These procedures include, but are not limited to, clitoridectomy, or the removal or cutting of a woman's cliteros, or infibulation, which is the sewing shut of the vagina.
There are many and varried reasons for partaking in this type of surgery. Be it cultural or religious, the WHO (World Health Orginazation) has found that in the majority of these cases can be harmful to the recipients. Often times excessive bleeding, sexual dysfunction, or infection results. As the majority of the participants in this type of practice reside in third world countries with sub-standard medicinal practices, it is not rare to see fatal operations.