Girls grow into women who are very timid, and as a result there are very few women in politics and positions of authority. Women who socialize a lot are seen as prostitutes and undesirable marriage partners. Even other women will not support any woman who is considered too social. FGM is performed in the belief that it safeguards virginity, prevents promiscuity, purifies the woman and relieves menstrual flow. Women who are uncircumcised are said to be unclean, harbor evil spirits and should be avoided.
Some groups deny the burial of an uncircumcised woman.
While the circumcised adolescent suffers from many physical problems and has low self-esteem, the uncircumcised girl wonders if there is something wrong with her. FGM is most widely practiced in Calabar. FGM is done by narrowing the vaginal opening and making angular cuts extending from the vaginal opening into the surrounding tissue. Women who have undergone FGM also often experience painful menstruation and sexual intercourse, loss of sexual pleasure, scarring and loss of elasticity of the vulva, stress, depression and the need for repeated tears with each delivery of a child resulting in more scar formation. Tradition in the northern part of Nigeria demands that a girl be married once she reaches puberty.