UN: 30 Million at Risk of FGM over Next Decade

By staff writer

Some 30 million girls worldwide are faced with a risk of being subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) over the next decade, a study by United Nations has revealed.

The UN agency for children Unicef said over 125 million girls and women alive today had undergone the cutting of female genitals, a ritual now opposed by the majority in countries where it was practiced.

The report 'Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change', released earlier this week in Washington DC, revealed that FGM was declining among the countries surveyed.

The study by the UN Children Fund, pulled together 20 years of data from 29 countries in Africa and Middle East where FGM is mostly practiced. It is described as the most comprehensive study, to date on the issue.

FGM "is a violation of a girl's rights to health, well-being and self-determination," said Unicef deputy executive director Geeta Rao Gupta. "What is clear from this report is that legislation alone is not enough."

The survey reveals that girls today were less likely to be cut than they were 30 years ago, with those in Kenya and Tanzania being three times safer to face the cut, while cases in Benin, the Central African Republic, Iraq, Liberia and Nigeria have dropped by half.

Unicef has called for action to end FGM which has received a significant obstruction from both boys and girls.

In Chad, Guinea and Sierra Leone more men than women wanted to see an end to the practice, but it still remains rife in Somalia, Guinea, Djibouti and Egypt, although in countries like Chad, Gambia, Mali, Senegal, Sudan or Yemen had shown little discernible decline, the study found out.

"The challenge now is to let girls and women, boys and men speak out loudly and clearly and announce they want this harmful practice abandoned," said Ms Rao Gupta.

FGM referred to as female circumcision in some communities involves procedures that alter or injure female genital organs and is often carried out by traditional circumcisers, who play other central roles in these communities.

Its dangers have included severe bleeding, problems urinating, infections, infertility and increased risk of newborn deaths in childbirth.

Some of these communities view FGM, as a traditional ritual used culturally to ensure virginity and to make a woman marriageable.

The report recommends opening up the practice to greater public scrutiny so that entrenched social attitudes to it can be challenged.