Although FGM is illegal in many countries, it is still commonly practiced in parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East – as well as in the diaspora of countries where FGM is common. Global efforts to end FGM, including criminalization, have long focused on Africa, where most of the countries that traditionally practice FGM are located, and anti-FGM campaigns have had some success in the 1990s to 2010s,[3] but have long underestimated countries traditionally practicing FGM in Asia and immigrant communities in countries without a tradition of FGM. [3] [4] [5] A March 2020 report by End FGM European Network, USA. End FGM/E Network and Equality Now found that FGM was practiced in at least 92 countries on all continents,[3] while 51 of them had a law that explicitly criminalized FGM. [1]: 11 Most governments of countries where FGM is practised have ratified international conventions and declarations that contain provisions to promote and protect the health of women and girls. For example: – 22 of the 28 countries in Africa where FGM is endemic have laws criminalizing FGM, although law enforcement is generally weak and law enforcement is rare. Many women interviewed by UNICEF and WHO said it was taboo to discuss FGM in their communities, for fear of attracting criticism from outside or, in places where FGM is illegal, for fear that it would lead to prosecution of family members or the community. More than 200 million girls and women alive today have experienced the practice, according to data from 30 countries where demographic data is available. 1. If a tool is used to cut several girls, as is often the case in communities where large groups of girls are cut on the same day during a socio-cultural rite, there is a risk of HIV transmission. The Convention relating to the Status of Refugees defines who is a refugee, what his or her rights are and explains the legal obligations of States.

Those fleeing the threat of FGM are entitled to refugee status. Source: The law and FGM from 28 to many. The report was supported by TrustLaw, the pro bono legal department of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. But there are exceptions. In Senegal, for example, there are large differences in the prevalence of FGM among Mandinka women depending on where they live – 55 per cent in urban areas compared to 84 per cent in rural areas. Similarly, the prevalence of FGM in chicken ranges from 41 percent in urban areas to 56 percent in rural areas. FGM is performed with special knives, scissors, scalpels, pieces of glass or razor blades. Anesthetics and antiseptics are generally not used unless the procedure is performed by doctors.

In communities where infibulations are performed, girls` legs are often tied together to immobilize them for 10 to 14 days, allowing scar tissue to form. World leaders have committed to ending FGM, which affects an estimated 200 million girls and women worldwide. But a report published in London by the campaign group 28 Too Many says there are large gaps in legislation in African countries where FGM is widespread. The legal status of female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision, varies widely around the world. Every child has the right to be protected from harm, in all situations and at all times. The movement to end FGM – often locally sourced – aims to protect girls from deep, permanent and utterly unnecessary harm. Evidence shows that most people in affected countries want to stop cutting girls and that overall support for FGM is decreasing even in countries where the practice is almost universal (such as Egypt and Sudan). Ending FGM requires intensive and sustained cooperation between all segments of society, including families and communities, religious and other leaders, the media, governments and the international community. In some cases, health professionals perform FGM. This is called the “medicalization” of FGM. According to recent UNFPA estimates, about one in five girls exposed to FGM has been cut by a trained health care provider. In some countries, it can affect up to three out of four girls.

According to estimates from Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, the countries where the majority of FGM cases are performed by health workers are Egypt (38 per cent), Sudan (67 per cent), Kenya (15 per cent), Nigeria (13 per cent) and Guinea (15 per cent). WHO conducted a study on the economic costs of treating the health complications of FGM and found that the current cost for 27 countries where data were available was USD 1.4 billion over a one-year period (2018). This amount is expected to reach 2.3 billion in 30 years (2047) if the prevalence of FGM remains the same, representing a 68% increase in the cost of inaction. However, if countries abandon FGM, these costs will decrease by 60% over the next 30 years. Sometimes FGM is performed across the border in a country where it is still legal to avoid prosecution in the country of residence (e.g. in Mali by residents of Burkina Faso or in Somalia by residents of Kenya). [6]: 48 As of September 2018, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya and Uganda were the only countries in Africa to criminalize and punish cross-border genital mutilation. [6]: 49 In the European Union, the legislator has applied the legal principle of extraterritoriality to prosecute the practice of genital mutilation when committed outside the territory of a Member State to girls living in the EU who have been circumcised or threatened with circumcision during a holiday or stay abroad in their parents` country of birth. [2]: 45 According to WHO, the medicalization of FGM occurs when FGM is performed by a health care provider such as a community health worker, midwife, nurse or doctor.

Medicalized FGM can take place in a public or private clinic, at home or elsewhere. It also includes the procedure of reinfibulation at any time in a woman`s life. In 2010, a joint global inter-agency strategy was published to prevent health care providers from implementing FGM. In 2016, WHO also published guidelines on how to treat health complications related to FGM. The strategy reflects the consensus among international experts, the United Nations system and the Member States they represent. In addition, the global commitment to eliminate all forms of FGM by 2030 is clearly stated in Goal 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In the United States, FGM was criminalized at the federal level in 1996 and in 17/50 states from 1994 to 2006. [8] However, the federal law criminalizing FGM was declared unconstitutional by a Michigan court in November 2018, largely because the judge concluded that the federal government did not have the power to legislate on the subject and that the United States should declare it. [12] At the time of the judgment, 27 states had explicitly criminalized FGM,[12] and the court case prompted other states to do the same, both during[12] and after trial.

[13] As of March 2020, the practice was illegal in 35/50 states; [3] As of May 2020, FGM had been banned in 38/50 US states. [14] On January 5, 2021, the STOP FGM Act of 2020 was enacted, which considers FGM to be “a form of child abuse, gender discrimination, and violence,” empowers federal agencies to prosecute individuals who “practice or conspire with FGM,” and increases the maximum prison sentence from 5 to 10 years. This replaced the 1996 law, which was declared unconstitutional in 2018. At the time of signing, 11 of the 50 U.S. states did not yet have a ban on FGM. [15] No religion promotes or tolerates FGM. Nevertheless, more than half of girls and women in four of the 14 countries where data are available considered FGM a religious requirement.