AMN /
At least 200 million women and girls across the world are living with genital mutilated due to custom and traditions, according to a new UNICEF report published in time for February 6 International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female genital mutilation, FGM, as the practice is often abbreviated.
The report says 70 million more victims than previously thought have undergone the “violent practice.”
The exact number remains unknown.
“In every case FGM violates the rights of girls and women,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta. “We must all accelerate efforts — governments, health professionals, community leaders, parents and families — to eliminate the practice.”
Key Facts:
• Globally, it is estimated that at least 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone some form of FGM.
• If current trends continue, 15 million additional girls between ages 15 and 19 be subjected to it by 2030.
• Girls 14 and younger represent 44 million of those who have been cut, with the highest prevalence of FGM among this age in Gambia at 56 per cent, Mauritania 54 per cent and Indonesia where around half of girls aged 11 and younger have undergone the practice.
• Countries with the highest prevalence among girls and women aged 15 to 49 are Somalia 98 per cent, Guinea 97 per cent and Djibouti 93 per cent.
• FGM is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15.
• FGM cause severe bleeding and health issues including cysts, infections, infertility as well as complications in childbirth increased risk of newborn deaths.
• FGM is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
Under 5 years old
Although female genital mutilation is carried out in many countries, the report says that more than half of those who have undergone it live in just three countries — Indonesia, Egypt and Ethiopia.
Data shows the highest rates of genital mutilation among women between the ages of 15 to 49 are in Somalia, Guinea, and Djibouti.
In most countries, the majority of girls subjected to the practice are younger than 5. About one fourth of all cases worldwide were girls under the age of 14.
While female genital mutilation is illegal in many countries, numerous communities consider the practice part of their cultural traditions and continue performing it.
“When you try to convince an excisionist, she won’t listen because it’s her livelihood,” said Molao Bomisso, National Director of OIS Afrique, a UNICEF partner. “But we keep insisting and insisting.”
FMG is often performed in conditions that lack proper hygiene, supplies and medications. As a result, the girls and women suffer infections, painful scarring, long-term disabilities and in some cases death.