What is female genital mutilation? What actions are being taken to prevent it?
Every year several million women approach childbirth knowing that the risk will be greater because some or all of their genitalia has been cut away by the traditional practice of female genital mutilation (FGM).
Approximately 2 million girls are mutilated every year. Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, and the Sudan account for 75 per cent of all cases. In Djibouti and Somalia, 98 per cent of girls are mutilated.
Apart from the immediate fear and pain, the consequences can include prolonged bleeding, infection, infertility, and death. For those who suffer infibulations - the severest form of FGM in which all external sexual organs are cut away - the trauma of recutting is repeated with each new birth to allow passage of the baby. Both moderate and severe forms increase the risks of childbirth.
Mutilation is not required by any religion. It is a tradition designed to preserve virginity, ensure marriageability, and contain sexuality. Usually inflicted on girls aged 4 to 12, FGM is one of the worst violations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. The 1990s have seen growing pressures against the practice from women's groups, human rights organizations, child welfare groups and professional organizations.
Several African governments have begun to move against the practice. So far, Burkina Faso and Ghana have adopted laws that make FGM a punishable offense. Burkina Faso, which has actively campaigned against FGM since 1990 through its National Anti-Excision Committee, has escalated its work in the past few years as the result of increased national support: law cases involving deaths caused by FGM have been brought to court under existing criminal laws.
Action has also been taken in some industrialized countries with significant numbers of African refugees or immigrant groups. In 1994 Australia and Norway joined Sweden and the United Kingdom in passing laws against FGM. As of December 1995, bills to make FGM a criminal offense were before the US Congress and the Canadian Parliament.
The United Nations strategy for combatting this practice is guided by two facts: FMG is a violation of the human rights of girls and women and it causes life-long health hazards. The United Nations supports advocacy for legislation banning the practice, social mobilization, community based interventions in education and the training of volunteers, teachers and midwives in Burkina Faso, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the Gambia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda.
This fact-sheet has been issued by
the Public Inquiries Unit, Department of Public Information, United Nations.
Tel: 212-963-4475; fax: 212-963-0071; e-mail: inquiries@un.org