Press release to launch “Stop Female Genital Mutilation Now” Campaign
On February 6th of each year, efforts and endeavors are highlighted to recall and stress on the complete intolerance of all forms of FGM, here in Egypt, in 2022, we remember that:
- 92% of women and girls in the ages between 15-45 years old, and who have been married, have undergone FGM.
- More than half of women think that men prefer the continuity of the practice of FGM.
- 82% of FGM crimes have been committed by medical care providers.
Therefore, Tadwein Center for Social Studies is pleading and demanding of medical care providers to urgently and immediately stop all FGM related activities in respect for the sanctity of the profession and the law.
Women and girls who have undergone this heinous crime can still feel and psychological and physical implications of this practice; some of them lose completely their will to live and enjoy their lives.
Combating FGM is now an urgent and necessary cause to stop the death of girls.
The Egyptian government has spent great efforts to stop FGM crimes in Egypt. These efforts have started with their 2003 announcement of a number of legal precautions and steps taken to combat FGM in Egypt, then by the Ministry of Health’s decree number 271 in 2007 that criminalizes FGM in all public and private hospitals, followed by the House of Representatives’ endorsement in 2008 of a law that criminalizes FGM for the 1st time in the Egyptian national legislative structure, followed by legal amendments of 2016 as well as the recent amendments in 2021 related to related to Articles 242 bis and 242 bis (a) of the Egyptian Penal Code, which intensified the penalty for the crime of FGM to make it range from 5 years to rigid imprisonment, moreover, the amendments included penalties for the parents (fathers & mothers) and well as legal guardians who perform FGM on their girls, and on the medical institution that conduct this crime in addition to anyone who promotes or advocates FGM.
For years, civil society organizations and those working in the development field have partners and avid supporters of the efforts exerted to put an end to FGM, civil society organizations have even taken it upon themselves to raise social awareness on FGM through developments interventions and measures to combat all of forms of violence on women and girls in Egypt, while taking into account the sensitivity of gender issues in Egypt.
In order to highlight these efforts, medical care providers, at the forefront of which The Ministry of Health as well as all professional syndicates related to health and medical services, should exert more efforts in combating FGM that take place at the hands of doctors and nurse which essentially increases the rates of these practices; either by committing the crime themselves or by participating or covering for the crime. In fact, the efforts that have been made for nearly half a century to combat FGM may collapse as a result of perjury and the practice of medical circumcision.
Therefore, Tadwein Center for Social Studies calls for the below:
- We demand of the Ministry of Health and Population to introduce effective control measures to prosecute perpetrators of FGM crimes, in both public and private hospitals, and to work on monitoring those who commit these crimes to prosecute them according to the law. We also urge them to launch a hotline to receive citizen’s reports on FGM crimes.
- We ask of the Egyptian Medical Syndicate, the Councils for Medical professions, and the Syndicate for Medical Care Providers to include in their internal regulations additional penalties for those proved to have participated or covered for this crime, or any other form of sexual violence on women and girls.
- We demand of male and female members of the Egyptian House of Representatives to exert more efforts in combatting FGM, as well as all forms of violence against women and girls in Egypt. This can be done by monitoring the government’s performance and legislative contributions for a perspective that takes into account gender sensitivity and allows for more positive dialogue for women and children.
