Despite the ongoing practices of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Egypt’s Health Ministry announced that the rate of teenage FGM has fallen from 74 percent in 2008 to 61 percent in 2014. The ministry released a statement marking Day of Zero Tolerance, a United Nations annual awareness day that has been taking place on 6 February since 2003, for FGM stating that government policies and awareness campaigns have contributed to the decrease in the overall percentage of FGM practices in Egypt. FGM is the crime of “intentionally altering or causing injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons” which is still being practiced, according to World Health Organisation (WHO). FGM practices leave girls suffering from emotional trauma and physical harm. Till this day, more than 125 million girls and women alive have been cut in 29 countries in Africa and Middle East where FGM is concentrated, according to WHO. In Egypt, around 9 in 10 women aged 15-49 have undergone the procedure, according to the 2015 Egypt Health Issues Survey (EHIS). Despite the fact that criminalizing FGM is no news, Egyptian across Egypt still debate its alleged health benefits. The practice has been outlawed in Egypt since the year 2008,…
Teenage FGM Rate Declines Amid Ongoing Fight to Stop the Practice Around Egypt
February 19, 2018
