2007年VOA标准英语-Surgery Helps Women Recover from Female Genital

By Naomi Schwarz
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
17 July 2007

Groundbreaking reconstructive surgery for women who have undergone gential mutilation is being performed in Burkina Faso. Despite efforts across Africa to stop the practice of excision¹, including an outright² ban in many countries, it is still widely practiced. From Ouagadougou, Naomi Schwarz tells the story of the surgery and of a woman who has chosen to have it done.

Abi Sanon, now 35 years old, was only a week old when she underwent female circumcision, a traditional practice that has also been called female genital mutilation.

"My mother says I was in a lot of pain and took a long time to heal," she said.

The practice of female genital mutilation, also called excision, has been outlawed³ in many countries, including Burkina Faso, but continues to be widely practiced, often in secret.

"These days many infants are excised⁵ to try to keep the neighbors from finding out that the procedure has been done," she said.

Many girls die from infections resulting from excision, which is often performed in unsanitary conditions without anesthetic⁶. Excision can also cause fatal complications during childbirth.

The practice ranges from simply cutting the clitoris to the more drastic removal of the clitoris and labia of the vagina, which is then sewn up to leave a small opening.

Experts say when the practice is done on infants, it is hard to differentiate⁷ between the different parts of the immature⁸ vagina, and more can be cut off than was intended.

Efforts to stop the practice have been largely unsuccessful. Alice Behrendt, a researcher with international children's rights organization Plan Internatinal, says Burkina Faso is one of the most advanced countries in the campaign to stop female genital mutilation.

"They have outlawed excision even within [since] 1999 and they are the only country in West Africa who are really enforcing the law," she said.

It is encouraging, she says, but even there, the number of girls being excised has only dropped by a tiny fraction.

Experts who have surveyed the practice say more than three-quarters of women in Burkina Faso have been excised. In other countries, such as Guinea, they say, the number is close to 100 percent.

In many societies where excision is practiced, people believe the clitoris is impure⁹, and an unexcised woman will bring problems to her family, husband or village. They believe unexcised women will be unfaithful. Some also believe the practice is required by Islam, although Islamic scholars say this is untrue.

Sanon was a teenager when she met unexcised women for the first time.

"I learned that, for them sex was pleasurable, whereas for me it was mostly painful," she said.

She began looking for a way to repair what had been done to her.

Last year, she finally found her answer. Doctors in Burkina Faso began performing surgery to reconstruct the clitoris.

Gynecological surgeon Michel Akotionga, department chief at the main hospital in Burkina Faso's capital, says most of the clitoris is actually embedded¹⁰ within the body. In female genital mutilation, only the external centimeters are cut off. The surgery exposes the embedded clitoris.

Sanon says her family has been supportive.

"My husband was eager to help me get the surgery. He even helped me pay for it," she said.

The surgery costs the equivalent of about $150 at public hospitals, but can cost upwards¹¹ of $400 at private clinics.

Sanon says her sisters have also been supportive, but so far none have chosen to have the surgery.

Plan International's Alice Behrendt says Sanon is extremely lucky.

"Men are still very afraid of women being unfaithful, and most parents refuse to abstain¹² from excision, because they fear their daughters will express sexual desire, and it will bring problems for the family, such as early pregnancy¹³ to the family," she said.

Benjamine Doamba, a Burkinabe journalist who campaigns against female genital mutilation, says she is not interested in having the surgery.

 "My parents thought they were doing something good for me when they excised me, and I do not feel like less of a woman without a clitoris. I have a satisfying sexual life," she said.

Doamba says she supports any woman who chooses to have the surgery. But she says she worries that publicizing the procedure will take the focus away from the campaign to end excision outright, and might have unfortunate side effects.

"I am afraid that families who are unsure whether or not to excise⁴ their daughters will do it anyway, if they think she can undo¹⁴ the excision later with this surgery," she said.

The surgery cannot reverse the effects of excision completely. But Sanon says women should know about it anyway.

"Millions of women in the world are excised, and I know that many of them suffer like I used to," she said.

She says women have a right to be whole.

1 excision   

n.删掉；除去

参考例句：

• The excision of the clause has been decided.已经决定删除这个条款。
• Complete excision is a curative treatment.完全切除是唯一有效的治疗方式。

2 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

3 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。

4 excise   

n.(国产)货物税；vt.切除，删去

参考例句：

• I'll excise the patient's burnt areas.我去切除病人烧坏的部分。
• Jordan's free trade zone free of import duty,excise tax and all other taxes.约旦的自由贸易区免收进口税、国内货物税及其它一切税收。

5 excised   

v.切除，删去( excise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Certain passages were excised from the book. 书中某些段落已删去。
• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。 来自辞典例句

6 anesthetic   

n.麻醉剂，麻药；adj.麻醉的，失去知觉的

参考例句：

• He was given a general anesthetic.他被全身麻醉。
• He was still under the influence of the anesthetic.他仍处在麻醉状态。

7 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

8 immature   

adj.未成熟的，发育未全的，未充分发展的

参考例句：

• Tony seemed very shallow and immature.托尼看起来好像很肤浅，不夠成熟。
• The birds were in immature plumage.这些鸟儿羽翅未全。

9 impure   

adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的

参考例句：

• The air of a big city is often impure.大城市的空气往往是污浊的。
• Impure drinking water is a cause of disease.不洁的饮用水是引发疾病的一个原因。

10 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

11 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

12 abstain   

v.自制，戒绝，弃权，避免

参考例句：

• His doctor ordered him to abstain from beer and wine.他的医生嘱咐他戒酒。
• Three Conservative MPs abstained in the vote.三位保守党下院议员投了弃权票。

13 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

14 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。