Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting

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A Call for a Global Response

By Sylvester Samba

Equality Now in partnership with End FGM European Network and End FGM/C U.S. Network, has produced a new report “Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Call for a Global Response,” about the global prevalence of FGM/C substantially been underestimated, and present in over 90 countries.

Ninety-two countries where evidence of women and girls live with or at risk of undergoing FGM, fifty-one have laws against FGM.

Countries with specific anti-FGM laws include Kenya, Benin, Eritrea, Guinea Bissau, and Uganda. Some countries do not specifically address FGM within their laws. These include; Indonesia, Mali, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, The Maldives, and Yemen.

According to official UNICEF figures (2020), FGM/C affects at least 200 million women and girls in 31 countries worldwide. This figure only includes countries where there is available data from large-scale representative surveys, which consist of 27 countries from the African continent, as well as Iraq, Yemen, The Maldives, and Indonesia.

Equality Now Program Officer, End Harmful Practices, Felister Gitonga notes that the report is timely. It comes at a crucial time when the United Nations is reviewing the next decade of implementation of the SDGs. The report demonstrates that 5.3 is a global target because FGM is not an African issue but a global issue.

FGM/C in the African Region

The practice is present in every continent except Antarctica, and it’s time for leaders to take action and eradicate FGM globally by 2030. Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A call for a global response report comes at a crucial time when the United Nations is reviewing the next decade of implementation of the SDGs. The report demonstrates that 5.3 is a global target because of FGM not only an African issue but a global one.

There are at least 60 other countries where the practice of FGM/C has been documented either through indirect estimates, small-scale studies, anecdotal evidence, and media reports.

Our new FGM report highlight the growing body of evidence that FGM/C takes place in Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, Europe, and North America. Amongst indigenous and diaspora communities. It also highlights gaps in data availability and anti-FGM legislation.

Better statistical information is invaluable because it helps to put pressure on the government to take action and provides the baseline from which the scale and effectiveness of interventions can be measured. It can assist grassroots organizations and researchers to attract more funding as a lack of financial backing is a major problem affecting the women's rights activists we have interviewed for this research.

Eradicating FGM by 2030, now is the time to take stock and accelerate action.

Equality Now Global Call:

  • The need to strengthen global and political commitment to eliminate FGM

  • Urgently increase resources and investment to end FGM and support survivors

  • Strengthen base through research

  • Enact and enforce comprehensive laws and national policies; and

  • Improve the wellbeing of survivors by providing necessary and critical support and services

About Equality Now

Equality Now is an international human rights organization that works to protect and promote the rights of women and girls around the world by combining grassroots activism with national, regional, and international legal advocacy. Our vast network of activists, supporters, and lawyers achieve legal and systemic change by holding the government responsible for enacting and enforcing laws and policies that end legal inequality, sexual trafficking, sexual violence, and harmful practices such as female genital mutilation and child marriage.

While working with different partner organizations at the community level, Equality Now uses legal frameworks to address sexual violence by advocating for the enforcement of strong laws and policies that protect women and girls from continued sexual violations to keep them safe at home, schools, and their communities.

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Theo Edwards

Theo Edwards has over twenty years of diverse Information Technology experience. He spent his days playing with all things IBMi, portal, mobile application, and enterprise business functional and architectural design.

Before joining IBM as Staff Software Engineer, Theo worked as a programmer analyst and application specialist for businesses hosting eCommerce suite on IBMi platform. He has been privileged to co-author numerous publications such as Technical Handbooks, White paper, Tutorials, Users Guides, and FAQs. Refer to manuals here. Theo also holds a degree in Computer Science, Business Administration and various certifications in information security and technologies. He considers himself a technophile since his engagement at Cable & Wireless then later known SLET.