3 million girls suffer genital mutilation every year in Africa – UN
Nov 24, 2005 (CAIRO) — An estimated 3 million girls and women, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, undergo female genital mutilation each year, according to a UNICEF report to be released Thursday that called the practice one of the most hidden forms of rights violations.
The report said the custom _ “a dangerous and potentially life-threatening procedure” _ could be eliminated within a single generation with commitment and support from governments and communities. It is largely a social practice, not a religious one.
Better data collection has revealed that the practice was more prevalent than previously thought, raising the annual estimate from 2 million, the report said. Because of the private nature of the FGM it was “impossible” to estimate the number of women or girls who die from it each year.
“In the 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East where female genital mutilation/cutting is performed, some 130 million girls and women have been victims of this practice,” a press release issued with the report said.
Nearly half of the 3 million girls annually affected are in Egypt and Ethiopia, the report said.
Ending such a practice is not just a matter of enforcing laws, the report said.
Female genital mutilation/cutting, often called female circumcision, is a traditional practice believed to enhance a girl’s beauty, tame her sexual desires, maintain her honor and increase her marriageability. Where it is practiced, it is part of a girl’s cultural gender identity, the report said.
“The procedure imparts a sense of pride, of coming of age and a feeling of community membership,” the report said. Failure to perform it “brings shame and exclusion” to the girl and her family.
Realizing how socially entrenched the practice is, the UNICEF report looks at ways to ensure that the decision to abandon FGM reflects “a collective choice” rather than enforcing a ban. Young delegates from Egypt, Sudan, Yemen and others are preparing a declaration for Thursday on their efforts to promote the abandonment of the practice.
The practice _ a deeply entrenched form of gender inequality_ is a global concern, as it also affects the lives of females living in migrants communities in industrialized countries, where it is legally banned.
“The girl must be circumcised to protect her honor and the family’s honor,” especially that now girls go to universities outside the village and may be exposed to lots of intimidating situations,” said a woman from southern Egypt who was interviewed for the report.
It is a practice more rooted in the culture of the Nile valley and in communities where these population migrate, hence it was found in Yemen and to a certain extent in Oman, said Simon Ingram, press officer of UNICEF in Egypt. “It is not an Islamic or Christian practice. It is more rooted in ethnic and social customs.”
Progress in data collection and more energetic political and community involvement in the issue is bearing more fruits in advocating against the practice, in Egypt for instance, said Ingram.
The most reliable data available on the prevalence of the practice focuses on women aged 15 and 49 who have undergone some form of genital mutilation, the report said, which is provided mostly by Demographic and Health Surveys. Most girls are cut between the ages of 4 and 12.
The latest figure available for Egypt shows that 97 percent of ever-married women have undergone genital mutilation as of 2003. A survey conducted in 2000 in Ethiopia shows 80 percent of women between 15-49 years of age have been circumcised.
(AP/ST)