What is Female Genital Mutilation?
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is sometimes called female circumcision, although it has far wider implications beyond the common understanding of circumcision.
FGM is the term used to refer to the removal of part, or all, of the female genitalia. The most severe form is infibulation, also known as pharaonic circumcision. The procedure consists of a clitoridectomy (where all, or part of, the clitoris is removed) and the excision and cutting of the labia majora to create raw surfaces which are then stitched or held together in order to form a cover over the vagina when they heal. A small hole is left to allow urine and menstrual blood to escape.
Girls can undergo genital mutilation anytime between shortly after birth to during their first pregnancy, although it most commonly occurs between the ages of four and eight. The type of mutilation and the way in which it is carried out depends on the woman or girl's ethnic group, what country they are living in, whether they live in a rural or urban area and their socio-economic provenance.
An estimated total of 100 to 130 million women and girls have been subjected to this practice. Two million girls each year are at risk of genital mutilation – around 6,000 per day. FGM is practised in more than 25 countries in Africa and in a few countries in the Middle East and Asia. In Europe, Canada and the United States, some immigrant and refugee families subject their daughters to genital mutilation.
Why is FGM practiced?
Female genital mutilation is perpetuated for a number of reasons including:
- Sexual - to control or reduce female sexuality.
- Sociological - for example, to initiate girls into womanhood, social integration and the maintenance of social cohesion.
- Hygiene and aesthetic reasons - where it is thought that female genitalia are dirty and unsightly.
- Health - in the belief that it enhances fertility and child survival.
- Religious reasons - in the belief that it is a religious requirement.
The health risks of FGM
The practice is often performed with very basic cutting instruments, under little or no anaesthetic, which inflict severe pain and can cause fatal medical complications. Use of the same instrument on several girls without sterilisation can cause the spread of HIV. It permanently damages the genital organs and impairs normal body functions. There can also be long-term physical and emotional complications as it restricts the ability of girls and women to play an equal role in society.
FGM and the law
FGM is a fundamental violation of basic human rights and contravenes the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. Some countries have made it illegal. Many others such as Somalia, where infibulation is practiced on around 98 per cent of girls and women, have no legislation prohibiting FGM. Even in countries with long-standing laws FGM is still widespread in many areas.
In the UK, the Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985 was replaced with the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003, which repeated the provision of the 1985 Act and applied them extra-territorially. In effect, this protects girls and women taken overseas for the purpose of genital mutilation. The new law also increased the maximum penalty on conviction and indictment for FGM from 5 years to 14 years imprisonment. However, there have been no prosecutions under the law despite more and more women presenting themselves to health care professionals with FGM related complications.
What is UNICEF doing to eradicate FGM?
In 1997, UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Population Fund, unveiled a joint plan to bring about a substantial decline in FGM within ten years and to entirely dissolve the practice within three generations.
The plan called for a multi-disciplinary approach and highlighted the importance of teamwork at a national, regional and global level. The plan identified the need to educate the public and law makers on the need to eliminate FGM, to tackle FGM as a violation of human rights as well as a danger to women’s health and to use the entire UN system to encourage every African country to develop a national, culturally specific plan to eradicate FGM.
In 2002, at the UN Special Session on Children governments forged a commitment to end the disturbing phenomenon by 2010.
On 6 February 2003, delegates from 30 African countries vowed to eradicate FGM on what they declared ‘International Day of Zero Tolerance of FGM’. Furthermore, in June 2003, UNICEF attended the Afro-Arab Expert Consultation in Cairo. From this event the Cairo Declaration for the Elimination of FGM was produced which highlights the provision of existing legal tools for the prevention of FGM.
UK agenda for action
Ending all forms of FGM is crucial to the success of two of the Millennium Development Goals: improving maternal health and promoting gender equality. UNICEF UK calls on the government to fulfil its responsibility under this agreement.
UNICEF UK therefore supports the Female Genital Mutilation Act but also stresses the need for the Government to invest more energy into exploring the reasons why there have been no prosecutions for FGM, and to address culturally sensitive, educative approaches for the eradication of this gross breach of the rights of young girls.
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