4.4.2014. by Passant Darwish, Ahram Online. For organisations working to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM) in Egypt, a court’s decision this month to refer the father and doctor of a 13-year-old girl who died from an FGM is seen as a ray of light in three years of political turmoil.

The unrest since Egypt’s 2011 revolution has overshadowed some of the country’s social problems – one of which is FGM.

Vivian Fouad, head of the capacity building and communications department at the country’s National Population Council (NPC), which leads the anti-FGM campaign in Egypt – says that the topic of FGM has been “marginalised” since the 2011 uprising, along with other social issues. (more…)

31.3.2014. Terre des Femmes and Watch Indonesia!have send an additional submission to the United Nations Comitee on the Rights of the Child, 66th Session, in which they call for a ban on female genital mutilation in Indonesia.

In their statement they describe how medicalization leads to an increase of FGM: “Many hospitals offer FGM as part of “birth packages” including health checks, ear piercing and vaccinations. Ironically, this practice would not be considered as a human rights violation since it has a legal basis. The promotion of ‘healthy’ FGM in Indonesia has become so popular that even girls from the greater Pacific region are at risk of being cut in Indonesia.”

read full statement

Dr Raslan Fadl and father of the 13-year-old girl who died during cutting are the first to be prosecuted in Egypt for practice of FGM

The Guardian, 14.03.2014

A doctor will stand trial for the first time in Egypt on charges of female genital mutilation, after a 13-year-old girl died following an alleged operation in his clinic last year.

In a landmark case, Dr Raslan Fadl is the first doctor to be prosecuted for FGM in Egypt, where the practice was banned in 2008, but is still widely accepted and carried out by many doctors in private.

Sohair al-Bata’a died in Fadl’s care in June 2013, and her family admitted that she had been victim to an FGM operation carried out at their request. (more…)

04.03.2014, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

A Unicef official has questioned why female genital mutilation (FGM) needs to be carried out in Muslim countries.
According to Haydar Nasser, FGM is not a requirement under the Islamic faith and is actually a practice that dates back to the pharaohs.
He also noted that the Koran states that human beings were created perfectly, which further renders the procedure unnecessary.
“If a human is in a perfect way, why do we practice something that alters the body?” Mr Nasser commented.
Charity Kinya Koronya, a child protection officer at Unicef, added that in some cultures, girls are considered impure if they have not undergone FGM.
“You are stitched and not opened up until the day of your marriage,” she stated.
The World Health Organization has described FGM as a violation of the human rights of girls and women and says it is most prevalent in Africa and the Middle East.

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