This campaign to collect information on FGM in the Middle East and Asia and support campaigns has been halted due to lack of funding. For updates on our projects in Iraq and Iran check our website wadi-online.org. For news on FGM in Asia check our facebook page.
Home » Articles posted by Oliver M. Piecha
The Guardian, by Patrick Kingsley, 21.5.2014.
A doctor is to stand trial in Egypt on charges of female genital mutilation on Thursday, the first case of its kind in a country where FGM is illegal but widely accepted.
Activists warned this week that the landmark case was just one small step towards eradicating the practice, as villagers openly promised to uphold the tradition and a local police chief said it was near-impossible to stamp out.
Raslan Fadl, a doctor in a Nile delta village, is accused of killing 13-year-old schoolgirl Sohair al-Bata’a in a botched FGM operation last June. Sohair’s father, Mohamed al-Bata’a, will also be charged with complicity in her death.
19.5.2014.
Does Female Circumcision happen in Singapore?
Yes. In Singapore’s Muslim community, female circumcision involves nicking the prepuce, the skin covering the clitoris. It is markedly different from the more severe forms of genital mutilation. The procedure is usually done on babies or prepubescent children. Circumcisions in Singapore are done by female doctors at a handful of Muslim clinics. Anesthesia is generally not used.
London Evening Standard, by Anna Davis, 14. 5. 2014.
A spokesman for the Orchid Project, which campaigns against cutting girls, said it is not illegal in the United Arab Emirates but the ministry of health prohibits it in state hospitals and clinics. It is not believed there are any laws prohibiting it in Singapore.
Julia Lalla-Maharajh, chief executive and founder of Orchid Project, said: “When female genital cutting is done by medical practitioners it carries the risk of the practice being seen as more ‘acceptable’, however the outcomes for the girl are still the same — she still is cut, still might have horrendous complications and her rights will still have been violated.
“Unfortunately, the medicalisation of the practice is on the rise and it must be stemmed.”