The main reasons for FGC can be categorized into four most common social justifications, and one financial:

1. The custom and tradition of becoming a woman involves this "rite of passage" from childhood to adulthood (ensuring she is good marriage material);
2. A desire to control women's sexuality (virginity, morality and marriageability);
3. A cultural practice that sometimes has a religious identification (a female's honor is a reflection on her entire family, and believing it is God's will);
4. Social conformity to the community;[15]
5. FGC is a primary source of income for many midwives/practitioners, who propagate the practice.

The countries that practice FGC the most are: Somalia, followed by Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Mali. Among ethnic Somali women, infibulation is traditionally almost universal. In the Arab peninsula, Sunna circumcision is usually performed, especially among Arabs (ethnic groups of African descent are more likely to prefer infibulation).

Type III is the most severe form of FGC and is called infibulation or pharaonic circumcision (referring to the Pharaohs who were thought to practice this form). Infibulation involves extensive tissue removal of the external genitalia, including all of the labia minora and the inside of the labia majora, leaving a raw open wound. The labia majora are then held together using thorns or stitching and the girl's legs are tied together for two - six weeks, to prevent her from moving and allow the healing of the two sides of the vulva. Nothing remains of the normal anatomy of the genitalia, except for a wall of flesh from the pubis down to the anus, with the exception of a pencil-size opening at the inferior portion of the vulva to allow urine and menstrual blood to pass through, see Diagram 1D. This type of FGC is often carried out by an elderly matron or midwife of the village on girls between the ages of two and six, without anaesthetic and under unhygienic conditions.[11]