There are many women in the world who are survivors of a practice that has been largely unknown to the western world until about ten years ago. It is commonly thought to be as harmless as male circumcision, but is much more extensive and debilitating. The practice of Female Genital Mutilation (also called "Female Genital Cutting") is probably not being well addressed (or properly) by gynecologists and psychiatrists, if at all, and the infections probably last a lifetime. The website at the bottom provides more information.