New World Health Organization guidelines have warned doctors not to get involved in what it describes as the "medicalization" of female genital mutilation.
In new guidelines for health workers dealing with the issue it says that parents can sometimes "ask health providers to conduct FGM because they think it will be less harmful".
The WHO's Dr Lale Say says: "It is critical that health workers do not themselves unwittingly perpetuate this harmful practice."
The guidelines - which also deal with treating sexual and mental health problems - have been issued because "health workers are often unaware of the many negative health consequences of FGM and many remain inadequately trained to recognize and treat them properly".
FGM: Advice from a Somali woman who was cut to others
Following a warning from the World Health Organization (WHO) to doctors not to get involved in carrying out FGM procedures (see earlier entry at 09:00), the BBC has been speaking to Hibo Wardere.
Hibo, who is from Somalia, was cut aged six. She first sought help for her medical problems aged 18, when she lived in the UK. She told Newsday's David Whitty about her first meeting with a doctor about the procedure.
Hibo was given type three FGM, the most extreme version of the procedure, after which the vagina is sewn up, leaving only a small hole to urinate out of:
Where we come from, it's the way you should be found. Your husband needs to find you that way. He needs to force his way in, which means you're going to be in such horrific pain and that is the only way they're going to believe you're a virgin."
She gives her advice to other girls and women who have experienced FGM and who live in countries where it is not criminalised:
If you are outside the UK, find out a doctor that you trust. Find out somebody who is not going to go back to your community and tell them what you've done because that can create repercussions for you... Be careful, but still seek help."
In new guidelines for health workers dealing with the issue it says that parents can sometimes "ask health providers to conduct FGM because they think it will be less harmful".
The WHO's Dr Lale Say says: "It is critical that health workers do not themselves unwittingly perpetuate this harmful practice."
The guidelines - which also deal with treating sexual and mental health problems - have been issued because "health workers are often unaware of the many negative health consequences of FGM and many remain inadequately trained to recognize and treat them properly".
FGM: Advice from a Somali woman who was cut to others
Following a warning from the World Health Organization (WHO) to doctors not to get involved in carrying out FGM procedures (see earlier entry at 09:00), the BBC has been speaking to Hibo Wardere.
Hibo, who is from Somalia, was cut aged six. She first sought help for her medical problems aged 18, when she lived in the UK. She told Newsday's David Whitty about her first meeting with a doctor about the procedure.
Hibo was given type three FGM, the most extreme version of the procedure, after which the vagina is sewn up, leaving only a small hole to urinate out of:
Where we come from, it's the way you should be found. Your husband needs to find you that way. He needs to force his way in, which means you're going to be in such horrific pain and that is the only way they're going to believe you're a virgin."
She gives her advice to other girls and women who have experienced FGM and who live in countries where it is not criminalised:
If you are outside the UK, find out a doctor that you trust. Find out somebody who is not going to go back to your community and tell them what you've done because that can create repercussions for you... Be careful, but still seek help."
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