Millions of girls mutilated

2005-11-24 15:20

Cairo - An estimated three 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 on Thursday

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.

The practice is one of the most hidden forms of rights violations, according to the report.

Better data collection has revealed that the practice was more prevalent than previously thought, raising the annual estimate from two 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.

Tame sexual desires

"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 three 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 honour 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.

Realising 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 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 four and 12.

The latest figure available for Egypt shows that 97% of ever-married women have undergone genital mutilation as of 2003. A survey conducted in 2000 in Ethiopia shows 80% of women between 15-49 years of age have been circumcised.

- AP