The Moral Challenges of Female Genital Mutilation on the Stability of Marriage in Ebonyi State

Abstract

Many cultures, in Nigeria today, are emerging from very traditional arcane cultural practices and are embracing more egalitarian and emancipatory values, especially for women. One of the cultural practices that ha ve come under intense scrutiny in the treatment of women and the girl-child is the practice of Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting (FGM/C). It is one of the widely and deep-rooted cultural practices in Nigeria, especially in Ebonyi State. The aim of this paper is to examine the morality of female genital mutilation and its effect on the stability of marriages in Ebonyi state. The questions become, what is female genital mutilation? Is the practice morally justified and acceptable? Does it abuse the fundamental right of the woman? How does it affect the stability of marriages? These questions and many of its kind s surround the cultural practices of Female Genital Mutilation. This work is a contribution to the body of qualitative research, which explores the morality and effect of female genital mutilation on the stability of marriages, in Ebonyi state. The researchers contend that female genital mutilation (FGM) has a negative impact on the sexual life for women and therefore impacts negatively on their marriage. Using the moral prism and spectacles of virtue ethics and human right theories to examine the cultural practice of FGM, it therefore concludes that it should be discouraged because it violates women’s rights to life, physical integrity, good health and social flourishing.