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Development
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the practice of removing the clitoral hood either partially or fully. Many cultures around the world consider this to be an essential procedure for the young girls of their community in order to ensure religious purity for some but is also believed to bring successful marriage, beauty, and honor. FGM is practiced on young girls around the age of seven years. Today there are nearly 130 million FGM victims alive around the world and FGM remains a practice in 29 countries based in Cultures in African countries, the middle east, and eastern Asia. Despite enduring the pain first handedly, the women in these cultures typically support FGM as an indispensable religious practice. It is seen not only as a necessary part of their culture but also as a social obligation which means it persists in many cultures without question.

Effects
The procedure leaves them with severe side effects ranging from mild discomfort to sepsis. They may have difficulty urinating or defecating and for some, infections and chronic pain may last a life time. Many women who have been through FGM have reported experiencing dyspareunia as well. A study done from the 2006 Demographic also revealed a correlation in women who underwent infibulation or FGM type III and the occurrence of eclampsia during labor. A news reporter from OBGYN and Reproduction Week quotes the study in his report, "Unadjusted and adjusted OR were also calculated for women who underwent infibulation compared to the rest of the population under study (women without FGM and women with FGM type I, II, and IV). In the 3997 women included, the prevalence of infibulation was 10.2% (n=407) while 331 women did not report FGM (8.3%). The proportion of women reporting signs and symptoms suggestive of eclampsia was 5.9% (n=234). Compared with the absence of female genital mutilation and adjusted for covariates, infibulation was associated with eclampsia (aOR 2.5; 95% CI:1.4-4.6), while the association was not significant in women with other categories of FGM". Alongside physical side affects, sufferers of FGM often live with persistent anxiety, depression, and or post traumatic stress disorder(PTSD).

The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom works tirelessly to cease the practice of FGM in their country due to their high population of citizens originating from the middle east and Africa. In the year 2015 around 20,000 females under 15 years of age were at risk of FGM and more than 66,000 women in that year were reported having undergone FGM at some point in their lifetime. With the help of Kenyan, Nigerian, Somalian and Sudanese researchers they are raising awareness to find the most effective way to tackle the pressing issue. According to research done at the University of Murcia, the five key points in addressing the abolition of FGM are sensitisation and awareness building, team action, abolition-promoting media, focusing action on rural areas and applying educational means before punitive ones.

Tanzania
A triangulated study was done in rural Tanzania in efforts to learn more about the prevalence of FGM in their people and to educate the citizens of Tanzania of the dangers of the practice. Surveys, interviews, focus groups, and assessments taken prior to and following the study aided the researchers in their findings. The study showed that 69.2% of women involved in the study reported enduring FGM, however based on the obstetric examinations of women in labour the percentage appeared to be closer to 95%. The study also revealed that about a third of the the women in the study were opposed to the practice, whereas the majority of women were in favor of FGM being carried out in secret in Tanzania despite its illicit status

Restoration
Dr. Harold Henning, an American gynecologist, has switched his focus from obstetrics to aid those who have suffered from FGM who wish to have their genitalia restored. In Burkina Faso, Dr. Henning and Dr. Marci L. Bowers MD work through Clitoraid to simultaneously educate women about FGM mutilation and offer them physical relief through a surgical restorative process. Dr. Henning stated that he had never seen a case if FGM in his work in the United States, however after working across seas he became a high demand on the east coast and promised to return and continue his practice in Upstate New York. This is essential for many who desire a restoration surgery since surgical gynecologists who work with female genital mutilation are rare and Dr. Bowers works primarily on the west coast of the United States outside of her work in Burkina Faso ..