Female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation (or female circumcision) isn't unique to Colombian tribes. It's quite prevalent still in a lot of African tribes, and if I remember correctly, some very strict religious cultures such as Islam.
It's a tradition designed to ensure a girl keeps her virginity until marriage - by cutting off the clitoris, she loses any pleasurable feelings sex may give her, discouraging her from engaging in pre-marital sex (because if it doesn't feel good, why do it?), and in some cases, the opening to the vagina is sewn together crudely until she is wed to protect her virginity.
In some cases, the woman is sewn up until her marriage, then the 'stitches' are removed and sewn back up again when she's had intercourse with her husband to make sure she doesn't do it with anybody else, and she's only unsewn when her husband wants to have sex in order to get her pregnant.
And I believe that, as well as being designed to ensure a girl stays a virgin until her marriage, it is also meant to be a form of punishment for simply being a woman - like how some Christians believe that women are evil because of Eve tempting Adam to eat the forbidden fruit, and that God's punishment is bleeding every month and the horrific pain of childbearing - these cultures believe that women deserve to be punished for their sins, and by causing them such pain, they're paying their penance.

I'd probably change the name of this thread to 'Female genital mutilation' rather than 'Tribal Controversy', as that's not only a really vague heading, but doesn't really convey what the thread's about.

And, my opinion - it's barbaric, it's cruel, and it should be stamped out. But then, in my opinion, so should male circumcision. Honestly, what is to be gained from cutting off a piece of a baby's skin for no reason other than religious tradition? Science has long since proved that it's unnecessary, painful, and in a few cases, can cause health problems, so I don't see why it can't be made illegal.

I think a lot of the problem, especially with these primitive cultures that still believe in FGM, is education, or lack thereof. They do it because that's just what has been done for generations, and although many of these poor girls get infections, other health problems, can die from their injuries, and go through their entire lives suffering horrendous pain, their elders demand that it's done to them anyway - even these girls' mothers, who have gone through the operation themselves. It's because, in their culture, an uncircumcised girl might not be pure, and therefore no man wants to marry her, and in these cultures, an unmarried woman becomes a burden as she has nobody to feed or look after her.
I'll scout around and see if I can find some links to websites detailing this issue - I remember Oprah Winfrey did a show on it a few years back.

Horrible, Stupid.. what more can I say? I agree with the above^^