I got down to widespread research on other alternatives that were available in the Indian markets and decided to go for tampons. These required lesser manoeuvring of the product and provided more fluidity of body movement. However, an abbreviation kept popping up every now and then while opening fresh packs- TSS. Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) is a rare but life-threatening condition caused by the overgrowth of bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus, or staph that gets stuck into the body and releases harmful toxins. It’s often found to affect those who use the super absorbent variety because a tampon, warm and soaked with blood, is an ideal place for bacteria to grow. Moreover, it was just as problematic as a pad because there were leakage issues and sleeping with tampons inside the body for too long wasn’t an option.

Digging deep into how a menstrual cup is really used, its pros and cons, different types and folds, I found myself questioning how it first came into being and why a majority of us still prefer using a sanitary pad instead. Living beings don’t adapt to changes easily because apprehension about something new and the fear of the unknown plays a massive role in it.

Evolution of the Menstrual Cup

Catamenial Sack- S. L. Hockert (1867) 

S. L. Hockert from Chicago, Illinois invented the Catamenial Sack ^[1] in the year 1867. The idea of a Catamenial Sack was the first prototype of a menstrual cup. It was a rubber pouch connected to an adjustable length wire (via a screw on the front) that was further attached to a belt worn around the waist. A string attached to the bottom of the pouch was to aid in the removal of the pouch just like a string in tampons. The wire was presumably rigid and was to help hold the cup in place and in shape to avoid it from slipping off or coming out. It often featured a small sponge for extra absorbency. There is no evidence of it being manufactured.

First Menstrual Cup Patent- McGlasson & Perkins (1932)

An early version of a bullet-shaped menstrual cup was known to be patented in 1932 by the midwifery group of McGlasson and Perkins. However, it was never commercialized and made available for the general mass.

First Commercialized Menstrual Cup Patent- Leona Chalmers (1937)

After the invention of menstrual cups in 1932, Leona Chalmers decided to take them a notch higher and make them available for the general mass. Hence Chalmers commercialized usable menstrual cups in 1937. She patented a design of a menstrual cup that was made from latex rubber, was soft as well as firm enough to not slip out. Her patent application stated that the design won’t cause “uncomfortableness or consciousness of its presence”. It also allowed women to wear “thin, light, close-fitting clothing” without belts, pins or buckles that would bother them or would show like the Catamenial Sack.

First Brand –‘TASS-ETTE’ later ‘TASSETTE’ (Latex Rubber, 1950s)

The 1930’s menstrual cup brand, “Tass-ette,” came up after Leona Chalmers designed the same. It faced hurdles during World War II as a shortage of raw material, latex rubber, occurred and the company was forced to stop production. After the war in the early 1950s, Mrs Chalmers made some improvements, modified the structure and patented a new design. Thus, it was re-launched as “Tassette” at the end of the 1950s with a bigger advertising budget. This cup was not well accepted even though women were far more progressive than in the 1930s they were somehow not ready for a menstrual cup with the idea of reusable internal protection. 

First Disposable Menstrual Cup-TASSAWAY (1966)

It was important to address problems that popped up concerning emptying or cleaning the Tassette cup. Those who were happy with the product didn’t feel the need to repurchase another since it was a reusable product. So, in the late 1960s, Tassette Inc. decided to come up with a solution to the biggest problem they were facing. They patented and began manufacturing a new disposable menstrual cup, “Tassaway,” to compete with the emerging market of disposable menstrual products. It was a big success and extremely popular in Europe. 

THE KEEPER (1987)

Reusable menstrual cups came back into the market in 1987. Another cup made out of latex rubber called ‘The Keeper’ was manufactured in the United States. The popularity picked up at a good speed as women were much more progressive and discontinuation of menstrual cups was not seen as an option thereafter. 

MOONCUP- First Silicon Menstrual Cup (2001)

The first silicone menstrual cup that became popular in the market was the UK-manufactured Mooncup in 2001. At the beginning of the 21st century a new material, medical-grade silicone, was integrated into the design which yielded great success. It ensured women a safer period cycle without latex allergies. Since Mooncup was a huge success Lunnette, Diva Cup, PeeSafe, The Women’s Company and other such brands started manufacturing the same kind of cups.

Pros & Cons of Menstrual Cup

It’s rightly said that we decide which pattern we really want to break and not let it trickle down to the next generation. When I thought of giving the menstrual cup a second try my mother was apprehensive about it too. Reading up the pros and cons, watching tons of informatory videos and a lot of self-exploration helped me more than I expected to not just understand the concept but also formulate an opinion of my own. I never found a proven drawback or medical threat with regard to cups but somehow the number of women who feel comfortable using a cup is just a handful compared to the vast chunk willing to settle for sanitary pads.

A menstrual cup in its true sense is a bell-shaped silicone cup that is folded for a smoother insertion into the vagina. It slides in and pops open to form a seal against the walls of the vagina. This helps catch all the menstrual fluid and can be emptied according to one’s convenience. This is not just the ‘real game-changer’ but a life-altering experience altogether.

The blood doesn’t get a chance to flow out and spread like jam on bread, hence there are no chances of irritation, odour, infection or rashes. Concerning flexibility and mobility, one can easily spread their legs and sleep in whichever position they want because gone are those days of uncomfortable sleepless nights. It provides comfort without making one conscious about its presence inside the body. Swimming with the cup on makes life so much easier.

Emptying it according to the flow of blood depends from person to person but it can hold blood up to 12 hours at a stretch which is very convenient for someone who’s travelling, attending lectures, working long hours or even lying around like a sloth. One must note that menstrual cups don’t make the vagina dry, they keep the good bacteria intact, and are not associated with Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) in any way. Hence it’s a win-win situation for all! Cups are also very environment friendly and avoid adding to a lot of unnecessary waste that’s hardly biodegradable.

Sustainable Development Goals

United Nations (2015) adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals and these SDGs are structured and well defined, in such a way that they address important problems from the health and sustainability perspective. However, Menstrual Hygiene is not explicitly mentioned in any of the SDGs but still directly linked to achieving several SDGs^[2]. SDG 3 ensures healthy lives and promotes wellbeing for all at all age; SDG 4 ensures inclusive and equitable quality education and promotes lifelong learning; SDG 5 which is all about achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls; SDG 6 ensures availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all and SDG 8 that focuses on decent work & economic growth. Menstrual health and hygiene are thus intertwined with various SDGs and a slight positive change in one creates a domino effect in all the other SDGs too.

Conclusion

There are a lot of developing countries and talking about menstrual health and hygiene is a comparatively difficult task even today. Many communities are hesitant to embrace menstrual cups because of moral concerns about hymen, virginity, masturbation, and its potential to act as contraception.

Though we’ve transitioned into an advanced world there are a lot of women who still use old cloths, rags and cotton to soak their blood instead of proper products due to poverty, illiteracy, unawareness and other factors that play a crucial role which increases mortality rates and diseases day by day.

Educational institutions hardly hold menstrual awareness workshops for students in developing and underdeveloped countries. They glorify basic information in the name of awareness and certainly keep the boys away from it. That’s exactly how regressive our understanding of period blood is as a society and the role of men in menstruation remains a far-fetched dream. The stigmatized status of menstruation questions the basic menstrual needs of women hence it’s disturbing to witness how the 21st century continues to pursue a stoic silence on the issue regardless of the impact. Menstrual cups have evolved over all these years and it’s high time we consider evolving too!

References:

[1] S. L. Hockert, “Catemenial Sack,” 12-Nov-1867.

[2] International Journal of Health Sciences & Research (www.ijhsr.org) Pg- 379; Vol.8; Issue: 5; May 2018

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Mrs Bector’s Food Specialities IPO or Mrs Bector’s Cremica offered 1.32 crore shares and got oversubscribed very soon witnessing a massive 198.02 times subscription. The window offered to the general public was from 15-17 December 2020. In fact, the craze over their IPO knew no bounds as bids reached over 262.10 crores against the total issue size of 1.32 crore according to the National Stock Exchange. This brand has existed since my childhood days and it made me question how it all came into existence. 

Family History of Mrs Bector’s Cremica

Before 1990

Before one gets confused it needs to be clarified that biscuits and sauces are sold under the brand name “Mrs Bector’s” and bakery products are sold under the name “English Oven”. The founder and creator of this large a company is Mrs Rajni Bector who was born in the city of Karachi but shifted to Ludhiana in Punjab during the 1947 partition. Brought up in the same city and got married at the age of 17, she raised three sons and sent them off to boarding school in Mussoorie. After this, it dawned upon her that all the free time she had could be utilized well and more productively by enhancing her culinary skills. She was very passionate about food and to take it a notch higher she enrolled herself into a course offered by Punjab Agricultural University. 

During 1978, almost 42 years back when women were suppressed by society and looked down upon for stepping into the business sector, Mrs Bector decided to start a small venture in her backyard. Just like any home-cooked food startup, hers relied on word of mouth for the news to spread and soon started receiving orders not just from her friends and family but also from her neighbours with regard to cooking for parties and social gatherings and built a network of her own. 

A startup aims for something higher every day but it was disheartening for the entire family to see their efforts not yielding desirable profits. There was no sign of growth whatsoever and the investments weren’t helping. Dharamvir, Rajni’s husband, took a call of putting all their eggs in one basket and moving ahead with investing big, expanding and commercializing the initiative. With their first bulk investment of Rs.20,000 for the budding company in 1978, Mrs Bector decided to set up a compact ice-cream manufacturing unit in the same backyard to cater to bulk orders.

The 1990s also saw terrorism as a bad phase and the Bector’s ancestral business in Punjab got highly affected for the first time in 107 years of its existence. They decided to not let this setback affect them in any way as Cremica Group had already started making booming profits and was a well-known business worth 5 crores.

1990s LPG (Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation)

On July 24 1991, India announced its New Economic Policy (NEP) and named it LPG or Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation model. The main objective was to achieve economic stability through plunging into “Globalization” and to give the economy a new thrust on market orientation. The process of globalization, therefore, was accompanied by a strong dose of Americanization manifest as India opened its arms to big private companies in such symbols as Coca-Cola and McDonalds and spread their influence all over the world.

McDonald’s India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of McDonald’s India Private Limited (MIPL) was incorporated in 1993. From the term McDonald’s, McDonaldization as a concept was derived and can be applied and studied in Indian society. This term was first used by sociologist George Ritzer in his book “The McDonaldization of Society”. He goes on to explain that it is the occurrence of homogenization of cultures when a culture possesses the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant. Right before India transitioned into the McDonaldization phase, Mr Akshay Bector came to know that McDonald’s was scouting for local suppliers and therefore wrote a letter directly to their head office expressing his interest to be a part of this venture.

To their surprise the company zeroed down to Cremica for the supply of buns and the partnership was later expanded to liquid condiments, buns and other bakery products as well, this in itself was a huge turning point for the entire family in 1995. They also entered into a 50:50 joint venture with Quaker Oats in 1996, a USA based company, and launched a new brand by the name Quaker Cremica Foods (P) Ltd. They mainly looked after liquid products such as, Mayonnaise, Tomato Ketchup, Milkshake Syrups, Tartar & Sandwich Spreads, and Ice Cream topping which would mainly cater to McDonald’s requirement in India and its neighbouring countries. Mrs Bector also supplied to Burger King. 

Demerger of Mrs Bector’s Cremica

In 2013 there was a paradigm shift and the entire business was divided into three equal parts between Rajni Bector’s sons. An agreement was made between Ajay, Anoop and Akshay where biscuits and bakery business was demerged from the condiments business. Post demerger Akshay Bector decided to go national in retail space by planning an IPO. As a part of the entire settlement process, the PE Firm Motilal Oswal which is known to currently possess a 20% stake in the company will now have a stake in the biscuit business only. Mrs Bector’s also planned to focus more on retailing with time and put more emphasis on the premium segment of the market.

Conclusion

Mrs Bector started her venture in the small backyard of hers by herself when the society was busy harbouring toxic traits of its ancestors, holding women back in whichever way possible, not letting them reach the top. Mrs Bector’s Cremica soon grew into a full-fledged family run corporation bringing joy and pride to the entire country. However, with success and achievements came greater strategic issues leading into a demerger. In my opinion, demerger intertwined with the introduction of IPO and the road ahead seems very exciting but at the same time, it’s a rollercoaster ride. The family is bound to face a new set of highs and lows individually and we can only take a backseat and watch them tackle hurdles, grow and expand to the best of their potential.

Reference

2015, ‘The Cremica Story’, AIMA Journal of Management & Research, Article 13, Volume 9, Issue ¾

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What Did Whatsapp Announce?

The issue of WhatsApp’s new Privacy Policy is something of concern and off late too many people have been talking about it. What starts to strike one is how wrong can a Privacy Policy be?  “Respect for your privacy is coded into our DNA. Since we started WhatsApp, we’ve aspired to build our Services with a set of strong privacy principles in mind.” is exactly how the WhatsApp Privacy Policy begins.

However, this statement might not remain true to itself as WhatsApp is giving a deadline of February 8, 2021, to accept the new policy or delete the account. Users, as of now, have the choice for opting the ‘NOT NOW’ option when the in-app notification pops up. However, once the deadline to read and accept the terms is crossed, one would either have to stop using the app of agreeing to the said terms and conditions as laid down by them.

According to reports, this Facebook-owned messaging service has already sent pop-up messages to users in a lot of regions, including India, asking them to accept their new privacy regulations. Users failing to agree to their revised terms by the cut-off date will be at risk of being cut off, the company said in the notification. This means that, while the profiles will remain inactive, WhatsApp will eventually delete those accounts after 120 days of inactivity as part of their efforts to maintain security, protect the privacy of users, and limit data retention.

How Is Facebook Related?

WhatsApp has already been sharing “certain categories of information” with Facebook as it had purchased the messaging service back in February 2014 and has been trying to gradually integrate the two platforms and share date more closely between them. The updates to WhatsApp terms and privacy policy happened soon after Facebook announced their privacy-focused vision to integrate and super-sync WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger together promising to provide a more integrated experience to users across its services. But this service definitely comes with a cost!

Key Update(s) in WhatsApp Privacy Policy

The key update(s) concern how they process user data:

• The policy mentions that “businesses can use Facebook hosted services to store and manage their WhatsApp chats” and WhatsApp has partnered with Facebook to offer integrations across the Facebook Company Products.

Wondering What Facebook Company Products Comprise of?

Facebook Company Products refer to WhatsApp’s family of services, including Facebook app, Messenger, Boomerang, Instagram, Threads, Oculus VR headsets, Spark AR Studio, Portal-branded devices, Facebook Shops, Audience Network, and NPE Team apps. The list unsurprisingly and predictably happens to be too long. It isn’t inclusive of Workplace, Oculus Products that are tied to Oculus accounts, Free Basics, and Messenger Kids.

• The “Mandatory Changes” as mentioned allow WhatsApp to share more user data with other Facebook companies including account registration information, transaction data, phone numbers, service-related information, mobile device information, interactions on the platform, IP address, and other data collected based on users’ consent.

• Also, this data-sharing privacy policy with Facebook and the other services doesn’t apply to EU states that are part of the European Economic Area (EEA) which are governed by the GDPR data protection regulations.

What’s Fishy About New WhatsApp Privacy Policy Update?

• In the updated policy, company elaborates and expands on the “Information You Provide” section with details about payment and transaction information collected during purchases made via the app.

• It has also replaced the “Affiliated Companies” section with “How We Work With Other Facebook Companies” that talks about how it uses and shares the information gathered via WhatsApp with other Facebook products or third-parties.

• Another section that received a major rewrite is the “Automatically Collected Information”. They further divide it into four sub-categories, namely Location Information, Device and Connection Information, Usage and Log Information, and Cookies, clearly implying that all the activities of users related to them are under a constant watch.

• WhatsApp’s revised policy also spells out the kind of information it gathers from users’ devices like hardware model, operating system information, battery level, signal strength, app version, browser information, mobile network, connection information (including phone number, mobile operator or ISP, language and time zone, IP address, device operations information, and identifiers (including identifiers unique to Facebook Company Products associated with the same device or account).

• “Even if you do not use our location-related features, we use IP addresses and other information like phone number area codes to estimate your general location” was claimed by WhatsApp’s updated policy.

A Matter of Concern

There’s no denying that privacy policies and terms of service agreements are often very long, boring, and seems as if it’s deliberately designed with an intention to confuse the users. But it’s essential to read them instead of blindly consenting. Having read the WhatsApp policy, it will probably make you think twice before handing over so much data for a messaging service. At the end of the day, it is not all black and white. We are aware that WhatsApp is a part of Facebook and most of the collected data by Whatsapp is providing a whole new level of integration and convenience.

A lot of users on Twitter have been convincing one another into getting off WhatsApp and making a sensible shift to alternate encrypted messengers like Telegram and Signal. Signal has responded to the ongoing issue by sharing how users can transfer their group chats from some other messaging app to Signal making it a much more reliable option and a better alternative.

Facebook is attempting to normalize the whole idea of data collection through an app that otherwise claims end-to-end encryption. It’s a personal choice and okay to keep using WhatsApp if sharing data and the possibility of targeted ads is not a big deal. On the contrary, if you care more about your privacy, WhatsApp is definitely compromising on it. It is extremely alarming and thus recommended to go through the policy thoroughly before it’s too late. After all, it is your data!

Major References:

1. WhatsApp Privacy Policy – https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/privacy-policy
2. Facebook Data Policy- https://www.facebook.com/policy.php

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Origin and Trend Setting of Colour Sexism

It must be noted that gender-colour stereotype and assigning a colour to gender isn’t an ancient concept but a twentieth-century trait. After World War II, blue was used extensively for men’s uniforms. Therefore, blue was identified as more of a masculine colour. Since 1940, pink was promoted as a woman’s colour. “Think Pink” was the marketing slogan to convince women to embrace their femininity. It grew massively in the 1970s and by the 1980s it was a full-fledged concept where markets were captured by brands selling gender-specific merchandise to parents indoctrinating a stark contrast in their minds. Also, the introduction of clinical tests that were capable of revealing the gender of an unborn baby, in different countries, played a major role as parents had the opportunity to preplan shopping for their children and stock up on everything that would speak loud and clear for the gender. Scrolling up and down social media apps I came across a trending concept of ‘Gender Reveal’ which was first started by Jenna Karnuvidis in the year 2008. She baked a cake full of pink icing to celebrate a baby girl they were expecting. After 10 years of this viral phenomenon, she realized how the trend picked up and someone’s potential and talent should not be compartmentalized depending solely on what’s between their legs. 

Sexism in Toys: Not a Child’s Play

With sexism being the primary focus while growing up, most children face a huge dilemma about peculiar universally accepted, gender-specific presents. Girls get a lot of Barbie dolls, kitchen sets, jewellery sets, anything and everything that’s ‘pinkified’. Boys are assumed to fancy GI Joes, Hotwheels, toy guns, for god’s sake the society loves gifting their sons a lot of weapons! It’s not just the gift that needs to be focused on but the dull mindset behind it. Gifting a kitchen set is the most suitable way to glorify what the society actually thinks of women, trying best to nurture their homely instincts because clearly, society would rather assign specific gender roles than let women dream of being bold, independent, and sore high with a mind of their own. I’ve seen parents often discouraging their boys who dare to show even the slightest of an inclination towards so-called ‘girly’ toys or makeup. This discrimination affects their thinking and behavioural pattern tremendously. The trauma of not being able to open up to your own birth givers about personal preferences, toys or choice of colours is claustrophobic in itself.

Second Home

We call schools our second homes and now I know why! There’s an uncanny significance between the two. A divide between girls and boys surprisingly exist in schools and educational institutions even today. We choose to ignore red flags of clear cut segregation that children commonly face on a day to day basis. For instance, boys who don’t like being a certain way and aren’t necessarily rough, rugged, crass and ‘manly’ if I must use the word are commonly subjected to a lot of bullying and are vulnerable to great deals of trauma that follows. This not only creates a problem for the child but also breaks their self-esteem. Yes, schools are very thoughtful and progressive about holding menstrual awareness workshops. Sadly these are strictly girl-specific and therefore boys are not just unaware of how a woman’s body functions but also made negligent about menstruation in general. Which is why the role of men in menstruation is still vague and sanitary pads continue to be sold wrapped in newspapers or black plastics. Girls are also taught to not speak about menstruation openly or involve the opposite gender because it doesn’t speak well of how ‘cultured’ they are. Sensitizing children about natural, biological phenomenon like these is a necessity and we need to acknowledge it as a society that’s concerned for the future generation.

‘Gender’ or ‘Sex’

Biology also teaches us the difference between a boy and a girl but what we’re often not taught is the concept of behaviour. Sexism forces one to behave in a set way. When we get behaviour into the picture let me tell you ‘Gender’ and ‘Sex’ are two very different terms. However, we end up using them interchangeably. During the second year of under-graduation, I took up Educational Psychology as an elective. While exploring certain topics I happened to come across a study which explained how humans are born as male or female biologically but socially, culturally and personally they might associate themselves as more masculine or feminine by nature. This masculinity or femininity is controlled by the society and anything that doesn’t seem to fit into their social construct is termed as abnormal and looked down upon. When a boy or a man places himself on the pink side of the spectrum we associate his gender or sexual identity with that of a woman and assume they’re homosexual. A lot of homophobics repel men who wear pink. Pink, thus in this scenario is seen as a badge of shame because it’s socially unacceptable for men to be inclined towards a colour like Pink because it’s assumed to be a colour for those who are soft, weak and feminine and men don’t gain social acceptance if they fall under such categories.

Fun fact, during 1930-1940, Nazi concentration camp badges included a pink triangle for gay men, while lesbians were lumped into an ‘asocial elements’ group with a black triangle. This shows the relevance of pink to femininity. However, in the late 60s, with the articulation of the LGBT rights movement, the significance of pink began a shift from shame to pride. The ‘Queer’ Community still struggles for acceptance because these factors are so deep-rooted. 

Live and Let Live

I’m sure if you’re a boy you must be able to relate to sentences like ‘don’t cry like a girl’ or ‘boys don’t cry because crying is for the weak’ and if you’re a girl you might’ve come across sentences like ‘sit like a girl, talk softly like a girl’ a zillion times! We need to get our basics right and realise that it is every human’s right to choose what they feel is best for themselves, associate or dissociate with people, colours, art forms or ideologies. Especially babies shouldn’t be pushed towards something purposely, taking advantage of their age and their inability to form an opinion or even understand what likes and dislikes are. This cycle of unnecessary pressure and dominance also has to stop. There should be absolute freedom in order to keep diversity alive. Diversity nowadays is probably best defined in an LGBTQ rainbow flag which is symbolic of an all-inclusive society. We should learn to live and let live instead of assigning particular colours and laying expectations on toddlers to stay true to them. There should be absolute freedom of picking any colour at any age, making it your own, and possessing the liberty to change it too because let’s face it, we’re much more than the X and Y chromosomes that we limit ourselves to!

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It has been brought to notice terms related to female genital mutilation have been used interchangeably in the past and one such term was “female circumcision” that was used because the surgery bore some resemblance to male circumcision. This not only raised questions about the term but also the misleading comparison made with male circumcision. Male circumcision involves removing only part of the foreskin of the penis without impairing sexual function. Male circumcision was carried out to avoid infections and make men superior to women, even with regard to having sexual intercourse. On the other hand, women were forced to undergo such surgery for curbing sexual desires, not keeping in mind the infections and the consequences. This practice experienced by girls is called ‘Clitorectomy’ or ‘Clitoridectomy’ where partial or complete clitoris or even parts of the labia are removed surgically with lifelong side effects, and significant health and sexual impairment. 

The Origin of Female Genital Mutilation

When we look back and try to trace the origin of female genital mutilation, a lot of researches that were held clearly denote that it existed before Islam and Christianity came into being. Some researchers have traced it back to Egypt (5^th Century BC) on the west coast of the Red Sea. There were a few more dots that could be joined to be more assertive about this statement like the Greek papyrus in the British Museum (163 BC) which clearly showed signs of Egyptian mummies of women who went through such surgeries. Strabo, a Greek geographer, on his visit to Egypt in 25 BC reported that circumcision of girls was a tradition widely followed amongst Egyptians. They even gave it an identity of its own by calling it the “Egyptian style”. Curiously, today FGM is referred to as “Pharaonic circumcisions” in Sudan and “Sudanese circumcision” in Egypt!

Four Broad Categories of Female Genital Mutilation

With the establishment of its internationally accepted definition came the differentiation. Hence WHO classified female genital mutilation into four broad categories in 1995 and again in 2007.

• First: Partial or total removal of the clitoris.
• Second: Partial or total removal of the clitoris and labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora.
• Third: Narrowing of the vaginal orifice by cutting and creating a seal, with or without excision of the clitoris.
• Fourth: Every other harmful procedure of the female genitalia for non-medical purposes like pricking, piercing, and scraping.

Today’s Scenario

Even today as we speak of female genital mutilation we try coming in terms with reality and how gruesome the nature of this ancient practice can be that is still being carried out largely. Looking at the brighter side of the story we find many groups and organizations that have come together to work and eradicate this practice. They purposely made it a point to not refer to it as “Female genital cutting” out of respect for women who have undergone the ritual and do not wish to consider themselves mutilated. It is a highly sensitive issue and no woman wants to feel worse about it than it already is.

Female genital cutting is still prevalent in about 28 African countries, and among a few minority groups in Asia, affecting from 1% of women in countries like Uganda and Cameroon to about 98% of women in other countries such as Sudan. These practices might differ from country to country but the sole motive remains the same, some face limited or controlled forms of cutting in countries like Sierra Leone and others face extreme forms of surgery like Somali regions.

Female genital cutting is illegal in at least 26 of the 28 African countries in which it is practiced, and it has also been made illegal in several industrialized countries where immigrants or refugees from Africa may reside. FGM has no positive health values attached to it but its prevalence proves the value of women being closely intertwined with this tradition. A large number of girls drop out of schools after this procedure as education and schooling is not seen as a necessary part of their lives.

Female genital mutilation laws by country map

India’s Dawoodi Bohra Community

Right when we think India is not one of those countries that we look down upon for practicing female genital mutilation we realise it very much is! Such cruel practices happen not only in tribal societies or distant places like Africa but also by the Dawoodi Bohra community right here in our country. Young girls aged six and seven are regularly having to go through the unbearable pain of such surgeries without realising the impact that it leaves on women, both physically as well as mentally. About two million people belong to India’s Bohra community and between 75-80% of Bohra women are subject to female genital mutilation. The colloquial word for female genital mutilation inflicted on girls is ‘khafz’. The practice is kept secret and hidden from the public eye and media to keep it away from debates, disagreements, and criticisms. The mothers and grandmothers are usually at the epicentre of it to ensure that this practice continues decade after decade.

India does not as yet have a specific set of laws that criminalize FGM, mainly because the government still denies the existence of the practice knowing quite well about what goes on behind closed doors. Despite provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences(PoCSO), the tradition has prevailed for decades together.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, myth-busting or a new law would not mean that all girls are safe. Almost all graphs and surveys fail to capture the real number of women who are subject to gruesome experiences as most of them are not allowed to even have an opinion about it and speak openly about it either. Changing a law alone cannot end the deeply entrenched practices, neither can it tackle questions about whether it can really legislate changes or not. It is often warned that any attempt to challenge such social and religious norms could incite a backlash or outlawing the practice would only drive it underground. As societies become more urban and industrialized, changes take place and bring in new pressures, pressures that require individuals and such communities to re-examine age-old beliefs, question traditional roles and reconsider established priorities with the view to make this world a better place.

Reference(s)

Murray, A., 2013. From Outrage To Courage. Monroe, Me.: Common Courage Press.

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