Medical Providers Are Trying to Expand Their Knowledge of FGE

BUFFALO, NY — Excision is a recognized form of torture. According to the World Health Organization, approximately three million girls are at risk of undergoing FGC each year. Some of them could seek asylum in the United States

“It’s a hidden practice,” said Dr. Kim Griswold, who founded the Human Rights Initiative at the Jacobs School of Medicine in 2014 and worked with asylum seekers there.

A growing number of their clients have undergone female genital mutilation or complete or partial removal of the external female genitalia, usually without anesthesia.

“This is a form of human rights violation and is one of the means that can be used in an asylum application to prevent the woman from being returned to her country of origin,” she said. she declared. “Many of the women who arrive not only have undergone female genital mutilation themselves, but are worried about their daughters, because if they are returned to their country of origin, they will often be cut without the mother’s consent.”

They conduct an examination and write affidavits for women’s cases. Although these providers have specific training, FGC is not something they typically learn.

“We’ve noticed a very significant knowledge gap among the medical student population in other areas of health care,” said Alyssa Reese, a fourth-year medical student at the Jacobs School of Medicine. “It’s not something we talk about very often.”

Reese helps with the Human Rights Initiative. She knows that cutting female genitalia can cause post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, problems with childbirth, urination, sexual intercourse and more – but knowing is not live.

“Actually, hearing the raw emotional stories in front of you from someone who survived this act of torture was completely different from what I expected,” she said.

That’s why his thesis focused on how to better serve this clientele, fill knowledge gaps and resolve potential problems. They organized a conference on the subject and are working on an FGC guide for medical students.

“You’re faced with anatomy that you may not recognize, situations that you may not be familiar with, cultural beliefs that you haven’t talked about,” Reese said. “I think it’s most shocking for someone who has never interacted with a woman who has already experienced this.”

According to Griswold, thinking about this trauma-informed care is something that will go a long way.

“It’s very important because it really touches all areas of health,” she said.

As female circumcision continues, giving these women more authority over their history and their lives is priceless.

“The journey to asylum is very, very difficult and often you don’t know what’s going to happen to you, so there’s uncertainty,” Griswold said. “It’s just nice to know that sometimes we can make a small difference through objective examinations and nonjudgmental care.”

UB’s Human Rights Initiative is planning more conferences on female circumcision in the future. They are also in contact with other institutions across the country to create a series of research projects on the subject.