“…So, FGM is decried as a violent form of child abuse (Menage, 2006;Schroeder, 1994) and a human rights violation whose purpose is the subjugation and control of women (Barstow, 1999), but it is also defended as part of the elaborate rules and cultural systems that are transmitted from generation to generation, usually among women, as a rite of passage, as a key feature of a woman's identity (Corbett, 2008), and as a deterrent against premarital intercourse (Braddy & Files, 2007). It has even been seen as a protective measure against sexually transmitted disease, even though some studies indicate that women who have undergone FGM do not have decreased rates of sexually transmitted disease (Elmusharaf, Elkhidir, Hoffmann, & Almroth, 2006;Msuya et al, 2002) and, as noted in the introduction, may have increased risk of contracting HIV. With respect to gender, a particular interesting study by Almroth et al (2001) documented that a significant number of men living in a country where FGM is practiced object to FGM and report their own negative psychological, sexual, and even physical consequences of FGM.…”