Female Genital Mutilation in German

Abstract

Before 1995, the subject of female genital mutilation was largely unknown in Germany. Other than a few articles in women’s magazines, the German press did not report on this subject. There are several reasons for this silence. Female genital mutilation concerns women and, as such, is of minor importance to German society as a whole. Female genital mutilation is also primarily an African problem, and Africa is quite distant from Germany. Female genital mutilation is a subject that necessarily relates to sexuality, and the social taboos about such issues remain quite strong, even in Germany. Finally, journal editors have repeatedly justified their refusal to report on female genital mutilation because the subject is not topical, as it has been practiced for thousands of years.