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The number of young girls in the country being circumcised could increase following a Health Ministry decree on the procedure, health experts warn.
The decree
appears to contradict a 2006 memo from the ministry prohibiting health workers
from circumcising girls.
“It’s a
huge setback that Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih, who is also a
doctor, has allowed this nonmedical practice to persist,” Kartono Muhammad, a
former head of the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), said on Tuesday.
“With
female circumcision now formalized in regulation, this will encourage
practitioners to perform the procedure.”
He said
that female circumcision did not have any health benefits and instead harmed
girls and young women.
Among the
immediate complications are severe pain, shock, bleeding and tetanus as a
result of infections arising from shoddy surgery, he said.
“Female
circumcision, which is usually performed on newborn babies, is very dangerous
because they are more susceptible to infections,” Kartono warned.
He also
said the long-term consequences could include bladder and urinary tract
infections, as well as cysts and infertility.
Ramona
Sari, from the Indonesian Family Planning Association (PKBI), said the type of
female circumcision most commonly done in Indonesia was risky, since it often
involved lacerations to the clitoris.
“It’s
widely performed across the country and is particularly dangerous because in
small villages it’s often done by traditional healers without the right tools
or proper sterilization,” she said.
Kartono
said other forms of circumcision, including the removal of the clitoris, had
also been reported in the country.
“Cases of
removing the entire clitoris have been found in a few areas in West Java and
West Sumatra, where they’re performed by ultraconservative Islamic
communities,” he said.
He said the
rationale for female circumcision was a mix of cultural, religious and social
factors, motivated by the belief that it would ensure abstinence and future
marital fidelity.
“Many
communities believe circumcision helps reduce a woman’s libido and thereby helps
prevent her from engaging in illicit sexual acts,” Kartono said. “No religious
scripts prescribe the practice, but practitioners often believe otherwise.”
The World
Health Organization says that up to 140 million girls and women worldwide are
living with the consequences of female genital mutilation.
Speaking
after protests on the issue last month, Ina Hernawati, a Health Ministry
official, said the decree did not represent support for female circumcision,
but instead offered guidelines to reduce the risks in cases where it occurred.
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