Page "Female genital mutilation" Paragraph 24

FGM has immediate and late complications.

Immediate complications are increased when FGM is performed in traditional ways, and without access to medical resources: the procedure is extremely painful and a bleeding complication can be fatal.

Other immediate complications include acute urinary retention, urinary infection, wound infection, septicemia, tetanus, and in case of unsterile and reused instruments, hepatitis and HIV.

According to Lewnes ' UNICEF report, it is unknown how many girls and women die from the procedure because " few records are kept " and fatalities caused by FGM " are rarely reported as such ".

Momoh says the short-term mortality rate is around 10 percent, due to complications such as infection, haemorrhage, and hypovolemic shock.

A film shot in Lunsar, Sierra Leone, by Mariana van Zeller in 2007 discusses how girls who bleed excessively are regarded as witches.