in this tribe as part of their rite of passage, and signifies that they are ready for marriage. This practice is openly accepted by these women as another ritual and a normal precondition of marriage (Bodley, p. 121). The efforts to stop procedures of this kind are mounting though, especially with the help of women ages 16 to 30 who realize the dangers of this practice. These women can help to save their daughters and many other women from this if they are educated of the dangers. It ends up damaging their health, as well as their socio-economic lives; which is why it needs to be put to a stop. It is also unnecessary in today's society. These women have joined together to create the Sudan National Committee on Harmful Traditional Practices, and are now working to eliminate it completely. They have also joined together with government support and are a part of the National Plan of Action for the Survival, Protection and Development of Sudanese Children, where they work to educate people of the dangers of this procedure. In the United States and other Western countries, both female and male circumcision is practiced, although male circumcision is much more common. Female mutilation is still an issue in Western countries though, and needs to be dealt with. These countries commonly used FGM as a means to deal with unruly, insane or temperamental women earlier in this century. Routine circumcision as a preventative or cure for masturbation was also proposed in Victorian times in America. In females, it was once thought that the application of pure carbolic acid to the clitoris an excellent means of allaying the abnormal excitement. The procedure of circumcisions, on both men and women, became commonplace between 1870 and 1920, and it consequently spread to all the English-speaking countries such as England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. As a form of so...
