Female Genital Mutilation: Know why it is practiced, How can it be stopped

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Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a procedure performed on a woman or girl to alter or injure her genitalia for non-medical reasons. It most often involves the partial or total removal of her external genitalia. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. The practice also violates a person's rights to health, physical integrity and the right to life when the procedure results in death.

The United Nations earmarked February 6 as a reminder that efforts needed to be made in order to end female genital mutilation.

Why is it practiced?

Although the reasons behind the practice vary in many of the countries where FGM is performed, but it is a deeply entrenched social norm rooted in gender inequality where violence against women is acceptable.

In some cases, FGM is seen as a rite of passage into womanhood. Many communities even believe that the practice of FGM will ensure a girl's future marriage or family honour. Many countries even associate it with religious beliefs.

However, FGM has no health benefits and often leads to long-term medical complications, including severe pain, prolonged bleeding, infection, or even death. 

How prevalent is female genital mutilation?

According to UNICEF, ending FGM requires action and education at many levels, including families and communities, laws, and political commitment at the local, regional, national and international levels.

Since 1997, great efforts have been made to counteract FGM, through research, work within communities, and changes in public policy.  In 2007, UNFPA and UNICEF initiated the Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting to accelerate the abandonment of the practice.

However, progress is not universal or fast enough. In some countries, the practice remains as common today as it was three decades ago. Over 90 percent of women and girls in Guinea and Somalia undergo some form of genital mutilation.

Speaking out about the risks and realities of FGM may help in scrapping of the practice. 

Progress to end FGM needs to be at least 10 times faster if the practice is to be eliminated by 2030, says UNICEF. 

If female genital mutilation continues at its current pace in countries where it is prevalent, some 68 million girls are susceptible to becoming victims of the practice by 2030, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

On February 6, the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, a UN initiative, the organization urged the international community to take action against it and warned growing populations in areas where it is practiced put more girls at risk.

(With Inputs from UNICEF and WHO)