The complexities of female genital cutting in Singapore: Part IV
Concluding thoughts on the practice in Singapore By Saza Faradilla Country of Residence: Singapore This blog post is the fourth in a four-part series about female genital cutting (FGC) in Singapore. This fourth installment provides a final analysis and concrete methods of engaging with discourses on FGC at the individual, community, governmental and international levels. […]
The complexities of female genital cutting (FGC) in Singapore: Part III
Tradition and patriarchal elements of FGC By Saza Faradilla Country of Residence: Singapore This blog post is the third in a four-part series about female genital cutting (FGC) in Singapore. This third installment explains some of the reasons the interlocutors provided for practicing FGC, including tradition and the control of female sexuality within patriarchy. […]
‘Girls must be circumcised or they will grow up loose’: Three Sri Lankan women talk about Female Genital Cutting
by: Bintari Hamza Zafar, a concerned Sri Lankan Muslim citizen Country: Sri Lanka Female Genital Mutilation is a serious problem in Sri Lanka. Almost all Sri Lankan Muslim women are circumcised. Both Moors and Malays (ethnic Muslim communities in Sri Lanka) are of the Shafi school of Islam which regards female circumcision, or “sunnat”, as […]
From birth to motherhood, a Singaporean Malay’s experience of Female Genital Cutting
By: Anonymous Country: Singapore Community: Malay Muslim Growing up: I was told as a child, that every girl had to go through it. There is basically NOBODY that you know who hasn’t gone through it. And I BELIEVED everything my mother said. Perceptions Ingrained in our Minds: It is dirty, unhygienic, curbs your sexual desires. […]
The sacred self: Reflections on female circumcision by a Singaporean Malay
(Originally posted by BEYONDHIJABSG on 6 FEBRUARY, 2016. Republished here with permission.) Country: Singapore Community: Malay By: Nurul Fadiah Johari I have a memory of my little sister going through circumcision. It is all vague to me now. I was 4, and she was a baby. I only remember being brought over to the house […]
Let’s Talk About “Sunat Perempuan”
(Originally Posted by BEYONDHIJABSG on 2 FEBRUARY, 2016. Republished here with permission). Country: Singapore Community: Malay By: Afiqa Ab Rahman Recently I attended a workshop where participants from Singapore, Malaysia, India, and Thailand shared their experiences and discussed Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Variations of the term include Female Genital Cutting (FGC) […]
Female circumcision is no different from other forms of violence against women
(Originally posted by BEYONDHIJABSG on 5 FEBRUARY, 2016. Republished here with permission.) Country: Singapore Community: Malay By: Filzah Sumartono So I was talking to my friend the other day and I brought up the issue of sunat perempuan or female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). And my friend seemed pretty nonchalant about it. […]
‘I am relieved more parents are saying no to female circumcision’
(Originally posted by BEYONDHIJABSG on 5 FEBRUARY, 2016. Republished here with permission.) Country: Singapore Community: Malay By: Zuby Eusofe I was six years old when I was forced to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) aka sunat perempuan. I was in a deep sleep and all of a sudden, I felt a […]
I did not circumcise my daughters, says a Malay Muslim mother
(Originally posted by BEYONDHIJABSG on 3 FEBRUARY, 2016. Republished here with permission.) Country: Singapore Community: Malay By Zubaida Ali When my daughters were born, I made the decision not to have them circumcised. Female circumcision is one of the most puzzling birth rituals in Muslim society. It has no health or aesthetic value whatsoever. Circumcision was […]
Speaking out about Female Genital Cutting among Malays in Singapore
by Filzah Sumartono Singapore is usually presented as a modern, cosmopolitan city. Yet, underneath the facade of modernity, female genital cutting (FGC) – known locally as ‘sunat perempuan’ – is still practiced in Singapore within the ethnic Malay community who are predominantly Muslim. Whenever I bring up the topic of female genital cutting with my non-Malay […]