Google – AFP, Kerry Sheridan (AFP), 22 July 2013
 |
Somali
girls are pictured at the Dadaab refugee complex in northeastern
Kenya on April
12, 2013 (AFP/File, Tony Karumba)
|
WASHINGTON,
District of Columbia — More than 125 million girls and women alive today have
undergone female genital mutilation, and 30 million more girls are at risk in
the next decade, UNICEF said Monday.
Although
genital cutting is on the decline, the practice remains "almost
universal" in some countries, said the UN Children Fund's report that
spans 20 years of data across 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East.
The
tradition involves removal of some or all of a female's external genitalia. It
can include cutting out the clitoris and sometimes sewing together the labia.
Laws are
not enough to stop the practice entirely, and more people must speak out in
order to eliminate it among certain ethnic groups and communities, the
researchers said.
Social
acceptance is the most commonly cited reason for continuing the tradition, even
though it is considered a violation of human rights, UNICEF found.
The
practice "is becoming less common in slightly more than half of the 29
countries studied," said the report.
However,
the tradition remains "remarkably persistent, despite nearly a century of
attempts to eliminate it," it said.
"As
many as 30 million girls are at risk of being cut over the next decade if
current trends persist."
The ritual
is practiced by various faiths, including Christians, Muslims and followers of
African traditional religions. Some believe it improves a girl's marriage
prospects, or that it is more aesthetically pleasing.
The report
found the highest rates in Somalia, where 98 percent of females aged 15-49 have
been cut, followed by 96 percent in Guinea, 93 percent in Djibouti and 91
percent in Egypt.
The amount
of data for analysis varied from country to country, but some declines, even
slight ones, were apparent over time.
"In
Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania, for example, women aged 45-49 are
approximately three times more likely to have been cut than girls aged
15-19," said the report.
Prevalence
of genital cutting among teenage girls has dropped by about half in Benin, the
Central African Republic, Iraq, Liberia and Nigeria.
In parts of
Ghana, 60 percent of women in their 40s have undergone cutting, compared to 16
percent of teenagers.
In Togo, 28
percent of older women have been cut, compared to three percent of girls 15-19.
However,
there was "no discernible decline in countries such as Chad, Gambia, Mali,
Senegal, Sudan or Yemen," it said.
The report
also found that even though the genital cutting is often considered a form of
patriarchal control, there is a similar level of support among men and women
for stopping it.
"Overall
support for the practice is declining," said the report.
"Social
norms and expectations within communities of like-minded individuals play a
strong role in the perpetuation of the practice."
UNICEF said
it should be open to greater public scrutiny, and called for groups that still
practice the ritual to be exposed more to those that do not.
"The
challenge now is to let girls and women, boys and men speak out loudly and
clearly and announce they want this harmful practice abandoned," said
Geeta Rao Gupta, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director.
Last year,
the UN General Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution to intensify global
efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation.
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