The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) as,
‘all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external genitalia, or injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons’ (WHO, 2025)
Indigenous societies have various traditional names for FGM including but not exclusively: sunna, gudniin, halatays, tahur, megrez, and khitan (NSPCC, 2025). The National FGM Centre provides a comprehensive guide of traditional terms by country. Many of the established international organisations prefer to use the term FGM to emphasise the harmful nature of the practice (UNFPA, 2025; WHO, 2025). We have elected to adopt the term FGM here to recognise the illegal and grievous nature of FGM and to provide consistency of terminology across the resources on OpenLearn.
FGM has also been referred to as female circumcision. However, there is widespread disapproval of this term for likening it to male circumcision and for portraying FGM as a seemingly acceptable, innocuous practice, thus underplaying the illegality and harmful impact and health consequences of FGM. It should be noted that some argue that male circumcision can also have detrimental health and ethical implications (Burrage, 2025).
Although the word ‘mutilation’ strongly expounds the defilement of the human rights of women and girls and the injury and harm inflicted, in more recent times the phrase ‘female genital cutting’ (FGC) has emerged. There is a perception among some that the word ‘cutting’ rather than ‘mutilation’ is more culturally competent and less ‘blame and shame’ orientated for those living with FGM and for their families and communities. Those working closely with communities at ground level prefer to use the term FGC as a means of forging trusting respectful relationships, as it is argued that the women and girls concerned and their families may not always view themselves as having been ‘mutilated’. Some organisations/authors have thus merged both terms, creating the term Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, abbreviated as FGM/C.
However, although it is important to be culturally sensitive with the terminology used, it is imperative that cultural legitimacy is not given to the harm caused by this illegal abusive practice. Furthermore, it must be noted that the different methods used in FGM/FGM/C practices do not always involve cutting, thus FGM is the more comprehensive term to cover the variation in procedures used.
You can learn more about FGM and the different kinds of procedures that are involved in our podcast and collection of articles.
Further Resources
Advice
- Talk to your GP: you can talk them about the feelings you are having, and they may refer you to specialist services if they feel it will help you.
- Health care professionals may have access to support resources through their professional bodies and employing organisations.
- Students will have access to support resources on their university website.
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FGM Collection
This resource belongs to the FGM Collection on OpenLearn, designed for students and professionals in health, social care and related fields to support understanding, safeguarding practice, and compassionate, person-centred care.
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