PRESSURE TO MUTILATE

The Pressure To Mutilate Novel

The motivation to write this novel was to draw attention to female genital mutilation (FGM), a surgical procedure that removes the clitoral part of the genitalia. Primitive tribes engaged in this practice to promote chastity, for they believed that non excision of the clitoris, an organ of sexual pleasure for women, encouraged promiscuity. Clitoral circumcision is an awful act of violence against girls. Although it is on the decline, thanks to the work of various NGOs to stop it, little girls are still being subjected to the surgical knives of practitioners in several places in the developing world. Even enlightened people from relatively advanced cultures are supportive of the practice and many have subjected their daughters to the procedure. In the novel, Osak was ambivalent about it, but he came under severe pressure from his traditionalist parents who wanted him to have his daughter circumcised. If you live in a country where this practice still exists, you must help to put a stop to it.

Matthew Uzukwu