The first consequence, when the excision occurs at an age 5-year-old superior, age in which the memories are stored in the memory, it is the reliable loss in the circle of acquaintances, mostly in the mother. So formula a young lady having been excised: " the worst, it is not the pain, it is to know that my mother lied to me, deceived me. She said to me that we went to a holiday, to visit an aunt. I was never able to rely on her since".

Another consequence of the excision is the memory of the pain in this place of the body which entails a fear, even a phobia of the contact at the level of the vulva. The apprehension at the idea of imagining a contact is sometimes enough to entail a pain. Therefore, an important number of excised women suffers from vaginisme, the impossibility to be able to support a sexual penetration, even when their anatomy would allow it. The memory of the physical pain is so present as it entails an important increase of the anxiety in the slightest approach and the contraction reflex of the muscles of the perineum which tightens very hardly the vagina and forbids then the penetration.

For the young ladies living in France who are confronted with the other not excised young ladies, the feeling not to be a woman as the others dominates. " I am not a complete woman " can express an excised woman.
    Others think that it will be impossible to them to meet a man who will accept a woman not as the others. They imagine that the life of couple is impossible for them because of this excision. They think they cannot be desirable, they loved as they are. 

The excision can also take away from the family. Indeed, if certain families evolved and decided not to excise the last girls of the sibship, the others stay on their position and think that the excision is an excellent thing matter. A young lady living in France and understanding another sound of bell can go away from her family, from her sisters, her friends, her mother, because she cannot speak about what worries herknowing that it will be very badly received to criticize the "traditions". It is something extremely difficult for the African young ladies for whom the family is very important. Moreover, the majority of these young ladies say, whatever is the situation: " I do not want it to my family to have made me excise, because I know that they indeed thought of making .It is because of the ignorance, not because of the lack of affection or will to hurt me ".

In a certain number of cases, the excised women have the feeling that their mutilation is something horrible about whom(which) nobody wants to speak. Indeed, numerous are the women who tell that their gynecologist examined them, even delivered, been looked after, but has never said a word on their excision. Nevertheless, all wait for a professional word on the subject and are shocked that we do not speak to them about it, a little as if it was about something unspeakable.
 

The countries where FGC is commonly practiced were identified by the US State Department.^[60] Other information in this section is from Skaine (2005), Appendix I.^[25]

Burkina Faso (71.6% prevalence, Type II)

A law prohibiting FGC was enacted in 1996 and went into effect in February 1997. Even before this law, however, a presidential decree had set up the National Committee against excision and imposed fines on people guilty of excising girls and women. The new law includes stricter punishment. Several women excising girls have been handed prison sentences.^[61]

Central African Republic (43.4% prevalence, Type I and II) 

In 1996, the President issued an Ordinance prohibiting FGC throughout the country. It has the force of national law. Any violation of the Ordinance is punishable by imprisonment of from one month and one day to two years and a fine of 5,100 to 100,000 francs (approximately US$8-160). No arrests are known to have been made under the law.

Côte d'Ivoire ( 44.5% prevalence, Type II)

A December 18, 1998 law provides that harm to the integrity of the genital organ of a woman by complete or partial removal, excision, desensitization or by any other procedure will, if harmful to a women's health, be punishable by imprisonment of one to five years and a fine of 360,000 to two million CFA Francs (approximately US$576-3,200). The penalty is five to twenty years incarceration if a death occurrs during the procedure and up to five years' prohibition of medical practice, if this procedure is carried out by a doctor.

Djibouti (90-98% prevalence, Type II)

FGC was outlawed in the country's revised Penal Code that went into effect in April 1995. Article 333 of the Penal Code provides that persons found guilty of this practice will face a five year prison term and a fine of one million Djibouti francs (approximately US$5,600).

Egypt (78-97% prevalence, Type I, II and III)

Egypt's Ministry of Health and Population has banned all forms of female genital cutting since 2007. The ministry's ban order declared it is 'prohibited for any doctors, nurses, or any other person to carry out any cut of, flattening or modification of any natural part of the female reproductive system'. Islamic authorities in the nation also stressed that Islam opposes female circumcision. The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, said that it is "Prohibited, prohibited, prohibited."^[62] The June 2007 Ministry ban eliminated a loophole that allowed girls to undergo the procedure for health reasons. ^[63] There had previously been provisions under the Penal Code involving "wounding" and "intentional infliction of harm leading to death," as well as a ministerial decree prohibiting FGC. In December 1997, the Court of Cassation (Egypt's highest appeals court) upheld a government banning of the practice providing that those who did not comply would be subjected to criminal and administrative punishments. This law had proved ineffective and in a survey in 2000, a study found that 97% of the country's population still practiced FGC. In light of the widespread practice of FGC, even after the ban in 1997, some Egyptian villages decided to voluntarily give up the practice, as was the case with Abou Shawareb, which vowed in July of 2005 to end the practice.^{[citation needed]} However, it remains a culturally accepted practice, and a 2005 study found that over 95% of Egyptian women have undergone some form of FGC.^[64]

Eritrea (90-95% prevalence, Type I, II and III)

Eritrea has outlawed all forms of female genital cutting since 2007.^[65] There have been no arrests made yet under the new law.

Ghana (9-15% prevalence, Type I,II and III)

In 1989, the head of the government of Ghana, President Rawlings, issued a formal declaration against FGC. Article 39 of Ghana's Constitution also provides in part that traditional practices that are injurious to a person's health and well being are abolished.

Guinea (98.6% prevalence, Type I, II and III)

FGC is illegal in Guinea under Article 265 of the Penal Code. The punishment is hard labor for life and if death results within 40 days after the crime, the perpetrator will be sentenced to death. No cases regarding the practice under the law have ever been brought to trial. Article 6 of the Guinean Constitution, which outlaws cruel and inhumane treatment, could be interpreted to include these practices, should a case be brought to the Supreme Court.^{[citation needed]} A member of the Guinean Supreme Court is working with a local NGO on inserting a clause into the Guinean Constitution specifically prohibiting these practices.^{[citation needed]}

Indonesia (No national prevalence figures avail., Type I and IV)

Officials are preparing to release a decree banning doctors and paramedics from performing FGC. FGC is still carried out extensively in Indonesia, the worlds largest Muslim nation. Azrul Azwar, The director general of community health, stated that, "All government health facilities will also be instructed to spread information about the decision as well as the redundancy of female circumcision."^[66]

Nigeria (25.1% prevalence, Type I, II and III)

There is no federal law banning the practice of FGC in Nigeria. Opponents of these practices rely on Section 34(1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that states "no person shall be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment" as the basis for banning the practice nationwide. A member of the House of Representatives has drafted a bill, not yet in committee, to outlaw this practice.

Senegal (5-20% prevalence, Type II and III)

A law that was passed in January 1999 makes FGC illegal in Senegal. President Diouf had appealed for an end to this practice and for legislation outlawing it. The law modifies the Penal Code to make this practice a criminal act, punishable by a sentence of one to five years in prison. A spokesperson for the human rights group RADDHO (The African Assembly for the Defense of Human Rights) noted in the local press that "Adopting the law is not the end, as it will still need to be effectively enforced for women to benefit from it."

Somalia (90-98% prevalence, Type I and III)

There is no national law specifically prohibiting FGC in Somalia. There are provisions of the Penal Code of the former government covering "hurt", "grievous hurt" and "very grievous hurt" that might apply. In November 1999, the Parliament of the Puntland administration unanimously approved legislation making the practice illegal. There is no evidence, however, that this law is being enforced.

Sudan (91% prevalence, Type I,II and III)

Currently there is no law forbidding FGC, although Sudan was the first country to outlaw it in 1946, under the British. Type III was prohibited under the 1925 Penal Code, with less severe forms allowed. Outreach groups have been trying to eradicate the practice for 50 years, working with NGO's, religious groups, the government, the media and medical practitioners. Arrests have been made but no further action seems to have taken place.

Tanzania (17.6% prevalence, Type II and III)

Section 169A of the Sexual Offences Special Provisions Act of 1998 prohibits FGC. Punishment is imprisonment of from five to fifteen years or a fine not exceeding 300,000 shillings (approximately US$380) or both. There have been some arrests under this legislation, but no reports of prosecutions yet.

Togo (12% prevalence, Type II)

On October 30, 1998, the National Assembly unanimously voted to outlaw the practice of FGC. Penalties under the law can include a prison term of two months to ten years and a fine of 100,000 francs to one million francs (approximately US$160 to 1,600). A person who had knowledge that the procedure was going to take place and failed to inform public authorities can be punished with one month to one year imprisonment or a fine of from 20,000 to 500,000 francs (approximately US$32 to 800).

Uganda (<5% prevalence, Type I and II)

There is no law against the practice of FGC in Uganda. In 1996, however, a court intervened to prevent the performance of this procedure under Section 8 of the Children Statute, enacted that year, that makes it unlawful to subject a child to social or customary practices that are harmful to the child's health.

Abi, a victim, speaks out

Abi Sanon is a Realian pionner who decided to have her clitoris rebuilt as soon as it became available in her country. After experiencing the pleasure to be one again, she decided to let as many women as possible know about this possibility.
Of course she contributed to the information campaign organized by the Raelian Movement of her country, Burkina Faso. But she wanted to do more. Abi is a very shy and humble woman. She decided to overcome her limits and started a very succesful tour. Like her, you can inform and help women to sense pleasure again…
Here is her story of the past few weeks :
It all started in Burkina with large media coverage of the initial press releases about the campaign « Adopt a Clitoris » and « the Pleasure Hospital ». We also printed them on pamphlets and gave thousands out. On May 29th, we held a press conference in front of two televisions, the private and public radios and most of the major newspapers. All of them published the full content of Banemanie’s speech. She talked about the necessity to remove the taboo around the word “clitoris” and explained the importance of that organ for women and the need to rebuild it for those who have been circumcised. She then introduced Clitoraid and its actions through the world to collect funds and help women to find pleasure back.
After this advertisement campaign, the subject became extremely public.
Everyday now we are contacted by sisters who would like to be on our list. Today we have a hundred of them ready to be operated on!
One of our goals was to testify publicly so that we can help others to get operated on. One of the major newspapers did an article where I testified about my experience among other experts explaining the operation and the effects of clitoris circumcision. I must say that among the 50 or so women who have been operated on so far, none of them want to be public as they don’t want to talk about their sexual life. The journalist congratulated the Raelian women for their will to testify.

So, after my testimony, I received lots of encouragements and congratulations from many people including one of my bosses at work. I work for a local development project associated to the “Voluntary Program of the United Nations”. The woman in charge of this program was the one who congratulated me and asked me to share my experience with my colleagues of the United Nations who are working here in Burkina. I accepted with pleasure and on July 28th, we were about thirty at our regular meeting of the United Nations Volunteers. I asked a woman from Social Services to come and explain the problems of clitoris circumcision. She showed a video of a little girl being circumcised next to a market, in front of everybody, in Nigeria. No need to say that everyone was quite attentive. Then I talked about the right of women to have pleasure as well since men can marry up to four women if they aren’t satisfied while women have no right to pleasure! A the end of my talk, everyone applauded and I received lots of encouragement and congratulations from everyone, especially from my boss who cried so much watching these unbearable images. Many said that they had no clue of the dimension of the problem until then but now that they are aware, they cannot stay inactive. One of the participants said that he was in favor of clitoris circumcision before but he has now changed his mind. The meeting was supposed to last 45 minutes, we stayed together for two hours!

After these actions in Burkina, I had the privilege to go on with this adventure with my Guide Banemanie. We went to Cotonou, Benin. We have been interviewed there for almost 2 hours by a journalist from a television.

The following days we went to Togo where we got interviewed as well by the biggest newspaper « TOGO- PRESSE ». An article was published on August 10th under the title: “ Rehabilitation of circumcised women, two victims testify”.

Back to Burkina, after a few days rest, I decided to go to Mali with X-Ciel, the National Guide, in this Islamic country where clitoris circumcision is practiced a lot and extremely taboo. Anxious to bring the good news about the possibility to rebuild clitorises we went the day after our arrival to the headquarter of the official Radio and Television of Mali where we found ourselves asked to go to the Office of the National Program against the practice of Excision. On Friday morning, we managed to get in touch with the President of an association of doctors who are fighting against female circumcision. Her contact information was given to me by my boss at the UN program. The doctor named Dr Aïchata Diarra Sacko is quite involved in programs to help women and young girls to blossom. I introduced the Clitoraid program to her and was quite surprised to see her emotion. This intelligent and dedicated woman couldn’t hold her tears. She thought I was coming to ask for a grant of some kind, she wasn’t expecting this…She said : “ Forgive me, I am so touched by your testimony, I m so proud of you dear Abi, you are a brave woman. I can assure you that I will make sure that the doors of Mali are always open for you.” She then took me right away to a seminar where several leaders of National and International Organizations for the promotion of woman and young girls were gathered. She was really touched by the fact that I left my country on my own budget, only to communicate this important information to my sisters of Mali. She said that many women visited her to find out where to do this operation and she could only tell them to go to France while she could have told them to go to the neighboring country! She immediately contacted some people who are involved in the fight against circumcision who came to her office to hear my testimony again and they were all so touched as well. She wanted to make sure that as many people as possible are aware of what is possible so that they can act afterwards. They decided during this meeting to do a sister association to the « Women of Heart » association founded by Banemanie and they are now making a list of women who want to have their clitoris restored by Clitoraid…
Dr Aïchata Diarra Sacko also invited me to participate to a national meeting at the end of November in Mali about the female conditions where she wants me to testify.

Nowadays, it exists a real struggle against excision.
It is an every day combat which concerns women of all around the world.
By beeing members of one of these numerous associations these persons want to abolish FGM even if this stuggle is not simple.
We can quote differents associations like:
AME (Association contre la Mutilation des Enfants), CNLPE (Comité national de lutte contre la pratique de l'excision) in Burkina Faso, GFAMS (Groupe des Femmes pour l?Abolition des Mutilations Sexuelles), AMSOPT and ASDPAP in Mali, Comité nigérien sur les pratiques traditionnelles néfastes (CONIPRAT)...