In 2013, women around the world rejoiced to hear that female genital mutilation was on the decline. Now, the next step in rectifying the destructive practice is repairing the genitalia of women who suffer painful side-effects and a loss of sexual feeling from the unwanted procedure. According to an interview in Vice, a Swedish doctor just successfully reconstructed a clitoris for the first time in Sweden's medical history, which is life-changing for the more than 38,000 women living in the Scandinavian country who have been subjected to FGM. Sweden now joins the United States, France, and Canada as a nation that offers this important surgery.
First and foremost, clitoral reconstruction is not just about the physical repair of the genitals, says Dr. Hannes Sigurjónsson. He also works closely with gynecologists, sexologists, and psychotherapists to treat his patients, careful to take into account the psychological repercussions that come with suffering this trauma at a young age. During the surgery itself, he removes the scar tissue and brings forth the part of the clitoris that has not been removed. If a woman's vaginal orifice has been partially sewn up, Sigurjónsson carefully re-opens the area and restores it to its original form. With counseling and rehabilitation, the hope is that the women can eventually lead healthy, normal sex lives.
While there are few who debate the dangerous repercussions of FGM, there are some circumcised African women who have spoken out about the benefits of female circumcision and the racist, ethnocentric approach to the issue that many in the West have taken. However, even these perspectives highlight the personal choices of the individual women, and because so many women are forced to have this procedure against their wills, there isn't really a conflict when it comes to the core ideologies of both camps. For the majority of women who desperately wish they had never been cut in the first place, these doctors are performing a crucial service which not only helps rebuild their genitals, but also their lives.
