A Shield against female circumcision
70×70×35 cm
animal leather, acacia thorns, epoxy resin, glue, pigments, glass fibre, 2011
The girl is held down, usually by her mother. The outer and inner labia and the clitoris are cut out by a specially assigned woman with a dirty razor or a piece of glass. There are known cases of epidermis removal within the vagina. The skin is pierced with an acacia thorn, then the vagina is sewn up so that only a small opening is left for the passage of menstrual blood. Poor sanitation often results in acute complications, infections or blood loss which leads to death.
Female circumcision, or female genital mutilation, is present within many peoples of Africa, South America, New Guinea, Australia and islands on the Pacific Ocean. There are about 130 million circumcised women living around the world. The number of circumcision acts annually exceeds 2 million, which gives about 6 thousand acts daily. The circumcision is usually performed on a-few-days-old newborns but there are also cases of girls aged 6-10, teenagers and adult women. The meaning of circumcision is rooted in religion and culture. Traditional beliefs seek in the act a method of controlling women’s sexuality, which is to guarantee maintaining virginity and marital fidelity. A partially closed vagina can be opened only by the husband.
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This shield is dedicated to Waris Dirie, whose book “Desert flower” inspired me to create it.
