...................................................................................................................iii LIST OF PUBLICATIONS..............................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................vi ABBREVIATIONS........................................

Monandry, in which a female has only one mating partner during the reproductive period, is established when a female spontaneously refrains from re-mating, or when a partner male interferes with the attempts of a female to mate again. In the latter case, however, females often have countermeasures against males, which may explain why polyandry is ubiquitous. Here, I demonstrate that the genital...

Female circumcision/female genital mutilation (FC/FGM) is the collective name given to several different traditional practices that involve the cutting of female genitals. The WHO has grouped them in four categories: type 1: Clitoridectomy; type 2: Excision; type 3: Infibulation; and type 4: Unclassified. Reports indicate that an estimated 130 million girls and women have undergone FC/FGM and...