Millions affected – Female genital mutilation is declining worldwide

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In 26 of the 30 affected countries in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, the spread of female genital mutilation has declined in recent years. Overall, 37 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 49 are affected, and eight percent of girls under 14 are affected. In Ethiopia, the number of affected children has fallen sharply: from 52 percent (2000) to 15.7 percent (2016). Despite this, more than 100 million women are affected worldwide.

The data of more than 400,000 women and nearly 300,000 girls from the affected countries served as the basis for a study published in the journal “PLOS Medicine”.

The authors attribute the slight decline in female circumcision in many places to changes in social norms and legal prohibitions.

More education, more prohibitions
One of the main drivers is increasing education. According to UNICEF expert Claudia Cappa, women today have more access to knowledge and the labor market. “That also changes social norms.”

Increase in Somalia and Burkina Faso
But the dangerous practice is not banned everywhere. The study recorded an increase for Burkina Faso, Somalia and Guinea-Bissau. In Guinea-Bissau around 2006, 44.5 percent of women had their genitals mutilated. In 2018 and 2019 this was already the case for 52.1 percent.

99.2 percent of women mutilated in Somalia by 2020
Somalia is considered the rearguard. In 2020, 99.2 percent of women were mutilated there. In 2006 this was still almost 98 percent. For children, Mali: nearly 73 percent of girls there were affected by the brutal procedure in 2018. The number has hardly changed in recent years.

The practice is also said to “curb urges”
According to the authors of the study, the mutilations are carried out for religious, social or cultural reasons. Many people in the affected countries also believe that this increases girls’ and women’s chances of getting married and curbs their sexual urges.

Surgery has physical and psychological consequences
In addition to psychological problems, the health consequences are also severe pain, infections, blood poisoning, infertility and complications during pregnancy. Sometimes girls and women die as a result of the procedure. According to the authors, it is usually performed on young children between the ages of zero and five.

The study authors estimate that at least 100 million women are affected worldwide, the actual prevalence is likely to be slightly higher. The United Nations estimates 200 million cases.

Source: Krone

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