The custom is cloaked in the lie of attaining womanhood when in reality, it takes it away
It is a barbaric practice that has no roots in religion and can cause unimaginable suffering and even death in its victims. Yet female genital mutilation, or FGM, is still widely practised throughout this region and in Africa and Asia. The charity Unicef estimates 200 million women in 30 countries, including Yemen, Indonesia and the Kurdistan region of Iraq, underwent the procedure in 2016. In the Arab world, Egypt has one of the world’s highest rates of genital mutilation, with an estimated nine in 10 women undergoing an operation, despite the practice being outlawed in 2008. Among them was 17-year-old Manar Moussa, who died in Cairo in 2016 when she was under anaesthesia for the surgery.
