MEMO

To: Veronica Cruz and peers of RWS 1301

From: Alondra Gomez
Subject: The practice of Female genital mutilation and its consequences
Date: 11-6-15
Dear Ms. Cruz,
I have created this memo to inform you about an issue I intend on writing my Opinion Piece
about; one that involves a little of all the other problems of my community issue.
Topic
Various problems are intertwined with my community issue of Injustices women around the
world have to face, but I decided to focus on the most harmful and traumatic one, which is
Female Genital Mutilation. This is a problem that targets young girls that are betrayed by their
own mothers as they are the ones who agree to this forsaken practice. My purpose is to inform
parents of the painful process and results that simply bring physical and psychological
complications to young girls lives. Female Circumcision does not enhance the life of a young
girl, it is a stubborn custom that can not die out due to societys superstitions and belief that it is
the process for a young girl to become a marriageable woman.
Audience
My primary audience will be my fellow peers of RWS 1301. As college students who will
eventually serve the community, I believe they should know about an intimate and existing
problem young girls have no way of ending on their own. By informing my peers on Female
Genital Mutilation there exists the hope that one of them will do something to end this vicious
custom. We must inform each other about the horrors our generation and future generations will
have to encounter if people do not take action and inform each other about F.G.M.
My secondary audience will be my instructor, Ms. Cruz and all El Paso residents. Female
Circumcision is a subject that is not mentioned here in our community, so my purpose is to
inform all El Paso citizens about the problem that has been swarming around the globe for
CENTURIES. Many might not know where this surgery is most prevalent so it will become a
great shock once citizens are informed that there have been cases here in the United States.
Solutions
The central solution is to show those who continue to undergo and execute these surgeries the
harmful future consequences women have to encounter. It might be easy for a circumciser to
continue on with the surgeries since they are believed to bring honor to the family, to keep a
young girl as far away from sexual curiosity, and to recognize a girl as a marriageable young
woman. Culture has blinded them from the physical complications these girls will eventually
face, so I believe it is up to me to inform these supposed surgeons about the physical and
psychological traumas that are forcefully imposed them.
Disseminate the solutions
I will provide my personal information to organizations that are against this practice in order for
victims to reach out to me if they seek someone to listen to their traumatic stories regarding
F.G.M.
Sincerely, Alondra Gomez

References:
United Nations Population Fund, (October 14, 2015) Never, ever again- a former circumciser
calls for an end to FGM. Retrieved from http://www.unfpa.org/news/never-ever-again-former-circumciser-calls-end-fgm
There are plenty of individuals that are oblivious to the practice of Female Genital Mutilation
that takes place in various countries around the world, including The United States of America.
The article above provided by United Nations Population Fund centers on the practice that takes
place in Ethiopia and that has been carried through by a woman (one of many) named Asiya. She
has been a circumciser most of her life and just recently realized the negative effects this surgery
has on young girls. It is a surgery done to maintain young girls away from carnal temptations and
to keep them in a state of purity until their time to wed presents itself. Asiya is interviewed in this
article and states that she will never execute any sort of surgery regarding the mutilation of
female physiques but instead will dedicate her life to oppose and stop female genital mutilation.
My audience needs to know about intimate problems women have to face and which are not
talked about as much. I want them to remember that problems dont stop at home or during ones
own personal time.