Study: Global cases of female genital mutilation decreasing

By Alice Clifford via SWNS

Cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) are decreasing globally but more needs to be done to prevent the barbaric practice, according to a new report.

The study estimates that 100 million girls and women of reproductive age across 28 countries have experienced FGM or cutting.

The practice has been branded an extreme form of abuse and gender inequality that violates the human rights of women and girls.

According to The World Health Organisation: “FGM involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

“It is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15.

“It is often considered a necessary part of raising a girl and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage.”

It is a cause of immediate and long-term health problems.

Researchers combined the results of 30 studies, 23 of which were from Africa, six from the Eastern Mediterranean and one from South-East Asia. They collected data from 406,068 women and 296,267 girls.

The results showed that 36.9 percent of women aged 15 to 49 and 8.27 percent of girls up to the age of 15 had experienced FGM/C.

While these numbers have declined in recent years, in some countries there was an increase of women who have been subjected to FGM. Those countries include Somalia, Burkina Faso and Guinea-Bissau.

There was an increase from 97.9 percent to 99.2 percent in Somalia, 71.6 percent to 75.8 percent in Burkina Faso and 44.5 percent to 52.1 percent in Guinea Bissau.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has set a Sustainable Development Goal to end the practice of FGM/C by 2030.

Those countries that have seen an increase in cases will not meet this goal unless much more work is done.

While this study is extensive, it can only create an estimation, as it is impossible to collect data from everyone.

Study co-author Dr. Stephan McCall, Assistant Professor of Public Health Practice at the American University of Beirut, said: “This study found that approximately 100 million women and girls have been subjected to female genital mutilation/cutting globally.

“However, the number of women and girls impacted is likely to be even higher as many countries do not report on this harmful practice.”

The findings were published in the journal PLOS Medicine.