FGM FAQs by UNICEF
Female genital mutilation (FGM) refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It is most often carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15. In every form in which it is practiced, FGM is a violation of girls’ and women’s fundamental human rights, including their rights to health, security and dignity.
FGM has no health benefits and can lead to serious, long-term complications and even death. Immediate health risks include hemorrhage, shock, infection, HIV transmission, urine retention and severe pain.
Psychological impacts can range from a girl losing trust in her caregivers, to longerterm feelings of anxiety and depression.
In adulthood, girls subjected to FGM are more likely to suffer infertility or complications during childbirth, including postpartum hemorrhage, stillbirth and early neonatal death.
Numerous factors contribute to the persistence of the practice. Yet in every society in which it occurs, FGM is an expression of deeply rooted gender inequality.
Some societies see it as a rite of passage. Others use it to suppress a girl’s sexuality or ensure her chastity. FGM is not endorsed by Islam or Christianity, but religious texts are commonly deployed to justify it.
Where FGM is most prevalent, communities may deem it a prerequisite for marriage or inheritance. This makes it difficult for parents to abandon the practice. Families who don’t participate face ostracism, their daughters at risk of becoming ineligible for marriage.
No matter how it is practiced, FGM is a violation of universal human rights principles.
FGM violates the principles of equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex. It violates the right to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. It violates the right to the highest attainable standard of health, the right to physical integrity, and the rights of the child. In the worst cases, it even violates the right to life.
Girls’ and women’s attitudes about FGM vary widely across countries where the practice is prevalent, but opposition is mounting.
Around 400 million people in FGMpracticing countries in Africa and the Middle East – two thirds of the population – are against it.
Education is a pivotal factor: Girls and women with primary education are 30 per cent more likely to oppose the practice, and 70 per cent more likely if they've received a secondary education.
Findings from a recent UNICEF analysis also show that many boys and men are against FGM. In Ethiopia, for example – a country with one of the highest rates of FGM globally – male opposition to the practice is 87 per cent.