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Female Genital Mutilation still prevailing in Egypt despite stricter sanctioning
15-2-2018
In its issue of today, Al Hayat drew attention to the topic of female genital mutilation (FGM) which is usually discussed by Egyptians around this time of the year, February 6, the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. In Egypt, the newspaper wrote, where women and girls represent the highest global rate of FGM, the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women 2030 is consistent with the goals to eradicate genital cutting as an extreme form of violence and discrimination against women and girls. However, Al Hayat went on to say, there is a wide gap between the strategy, the letter of the law and what is disseminated in the media on the one hand, and what is actually happening behind closed doors. That which has been deep-rooted in culture and traditions, and furthered by religious extremists, is difficult to erase from the collective consciousness of a society. Citing a study by UNICEF (2014), Al Hayat indicated that 87% of women and girls aged between 15-49 years, have undergone genital cutting, which shows that the majority of women and girls in the North African state have been subjected to this form of physical abuse masked under the cover of purity and religiosity. On the subject, Al Hayat spoke with the professor of public health at the Cairo University School of Medicine, Maisa Shawky, who stated that despite tightening the punishment against cases of FGM from an offence to a felony conviction in 2016, yet there remains too much secrecy surrounding the crime. Overall FGM prevalence did not vary from the year 2014, Shawky revealed. She demanded a tough application of the law, the inclusion of the notion in the curriculum and an ongoing, not just seasonal, coverage by the media of the subject. The article can be found on the following link: : https://goo.gl/V98b4N. (Al Hayat, February 15, 2018)
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