- Female genital mutilation (FGM) involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
- FGM is found on ALL continents except Antartica. The countries with the highest prevalence are Somalia, Guinea, Djibouti and Sierra Leone.
- The practice has no health benefits for girls and women.
- FGM has numerous and very significant short and long-term health effects, ranging from bleeding, infection and death to long-term psychological, urinary, gynecological and obstetric problems, potentially resulting in neonatal and maternal deaths.
- More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been cut; this number represents only 30 countries where FGM population data exist.
- A girl or woman is cut every 10 or 11 seconds somewhere in the world.
- FGM is the most systemic form of human rights abuse.
- It is impossible to determine the annual financial burden of FGM; the WHO has determined that the health cost (in those 30 countries where population data is available) amounts to more than $1.4 billion.
- The UN General Assembly adopted Resolution A/RES/67/146 in 2012 to observe Febraury 6 as the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation; the purpose of the day is to enhance awareness and begin taking steps against FGM.
- The age at which FGM is performed varies from during infancy (as early as a couple of days after birth) or childhood or at the time of marriage to during a woman’s first pregnancy or after the birth of her first child. Most FGM is perfomed on girls between the ages of 0 and 15 years.
Together, we can eliminate female genital mutilation by 2030. Doing so will have a positive ripple effect on the health, education and economic advancement of girls and women.
Sources:
https://www.unfpa.org/resources/female-genital-mutilation-fgm-frequently-asked-questions
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation