EGYPT: Coalition of groups campaign to end practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Egypt

Record ID: 785203

  • Title: EGYPT: Coalition of groups campaign to end practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Egypt
  • Date: 28th November 2006
  • Summary: SCHOOLGIRLS INVOLVED IN UN PROJECT (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) SCHOOLGIRL, YASMIN, SAYING: "There is no evidence that this custom is necessary. It's an incorrect custom, and it has bad effects on the psychology of women. It disturbs her thinking - it's wrong."
  • Embargoed: 13th December 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Health,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAB8J0OHI7GI55CHR3SOKCSJQZT
  • Story Text: A coalition of groups are campaigning to end the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Egypt.
    A UN-sponsored ceremony was held in the southern Egyptian city of al-Minya over the weekend to publicize the campaign -- with one village declared entirely free from FGM. And a recent conference of Egypt's most senior religious leaders also came out against FGM [Khitan in Arabic].
    According to the Egyptian government's own statistics, the ancient custom of FGM is widespread in Egypt. The practice, which medical doctors say is unnecessary and harmful to women, involves circumcising girls just before or after they reach puberty.
    FGM is common throughout Africa, and is practised by both Christians and Muslims in Egypt, being most prevalent in rural areas.
    Parents often insist that their daughters be circumcised believing that it is in her best interests, and that without the procedure, they will not be able to find a husband. Some also believe that it is necessary to control women's sexual desires.
    A study carried out last year by Egypt's Ministry of Health showed that fifty percent of schoolgirls between ages ten to eighteen were circumcised.
    A joint project between the Egyptian government, the United Nations, and a group of Egyptian NGOs, is now attempting to eradicate the practice. As part of the "FGM-Free Village Model", educators and volunteers go to schools and door-to-door in communities to educate people about the dangers of FGM.
    Over the weekend a large celebration was held in the southern Egyptian city of al-Minya to welcome the arrival of a UN project called "Sailing the Nile", in which eight feluccas representing UN development goals are sailing up the Nile towards Cairo. The stop in al-Minya was intended to promote equality for women, one of eight UN Millennium Development Goals agreed by the international community in 2000.
    One teacher in al-Minya says that part of the campaign's approach is to instruct students that FGM is outdated and a form of violence against women.
    "We told the girls that Khitan [Female Genital Mutilation] is not good. It's one of the old habits. And we told them also there should be no violence towards women, because it [FGM] is violence towards women. We are fighting against these old customs and habits," she said.
    The campaign also declared the village of Al-Gazair, which is near the southern city of al-Minya, completely free from the practice of FGM.
    Another problem is that despite government efforts to ban FGM, a 1996 decision forbidding it contains legal loopholes that allow doctors and midwives to perform the procedure.
    The campaign, which is being headed in Egypt by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) in cooperation with several UN agencies and the Egyptian government, has the ambitious goal of ending FGM in Egypt by the year 2010.
    A big part of the project is to try to persuade young people to become active in opposing the practice.
    The campaign is clearly having an effect amongst the youth in al-Minya, particularly those that have been educated about FGM.
    "There is no evidence that this custom is necessary. It's an incorrect custom, and it has bad effects on the psychology of women. It disturbs her thinking - it's wrong," says Yasmin.
    Experiencing FGM is extremely traumatic for many women and can leave deep psychological scars and lead to serious health and reproductive problems in the future. For that reason, the educational campaign is finding many parents receptive to their goal of eliminating the ancient practice.
    "They took me to do "Tahari" [FGM], they held me, and I started crying and screaming," said Madiha, describing her own experience. "It was a very bad day. To be grabbed like this, and I was very embarrassed because of all the people sitting around me. And that's why I don't want my daughter to be in this position," she added.
    The campaign attempts to tackle the problem by trying to reach the community as a whole, using influential groups within society to take a stand against FGM and remove the taboo of talking about or opposing the practice.
    Many doctors who carry out FGM are placed in a difficult position because refusing to do the procedure can lead to a loss of trust and business with the communities they serve.
    But even when doctors refuse to carry out the procedure it is often midwives who take their place. For that reason the campaign against FGM is seeking to educate them as well.
    "When you go for training, they say no for Takhteen [FGM], don't do Takhteen [FGM] to your daughter, it's forbidden," says midwife Nadia.
    The campaign has grown considerably since it began in 2003. It initially targeted 60 villages, and hopes to increase that number to 120 in 10 Egyptian governorates by the end of this year.
    A conference of Egypt's highest religious authorities also sought to remove any perceived religious sanction for FGM at a conference last week.
    The conference was attended by both the Grand Mufti and the Sheikh of al-Azhar, Egypt's two highest Sunni Muslim authorities.
    A statement released by the conference declared that FGM is rooted in "socio-cultural beliefs" rather than religion, and that it actually contradicts Islam because harms human beings.
    "What's written in the books originally that it is a custom and it is not a religious practice, because there is no evidence to say that it is part of religion," said Egypt's Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa.
    The conference also called for a law criminalizing the practice of FGM.
    In 2003 a conference of African heads of state in Cairo condemned FGM, which the UN says affects 130 million women world-wide, with over 2 million new cases every year.
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