Egypt’s
Minister of Health Adel Adawy announced on Sunday that 92 percent of
married Egyptian women have experienced female genital mutilation.
The latest
results were announced at a conference held to reveal the results of the
2014 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS).
According to
the Minister, 92 percent of women aged between 15 and 49 who are or have
been married suffer from genital mutilation.
The majority of
females undergo genital mutilation between the ages of nine and 12,
with only 31 percent of the operations run by doctors, said the Minister
of Health.
The Minister of Health added that FGM in rural areas is as high as 95 percent, compared to up to 39.2 percent in urban cities.
The 2014 EDHS
further found that more than 50 percent of married women in Egypt favor
female genital mutilation and is in accordance with religious
teachings, while 30 percent believe it should be banned. FGM is normally
carried out by traditional midwives and ‘health barbers’.
Despite a large
number of women surveyed believing that FGM is condoned by Islam,
Egypt’s top Islamic authority has condemned the act as ‘un-Islamic’ and
‘barbaric’.
Moreover, Egypt
banned female genital mutilation in 2008. Article 242 of Egypt’s Penal
Code criminalizes the circumcision of girls The punishment for
performing FGM is a prison sentence ranging from three months to two
years or a fine of 5,000 Egyptian pounds.
In January 2015, an Egyptian court imprisoned the first doctor ever brought to trial in Egypt on FGM charges that resulted in the death of 13-year-old Sohair al-Bata’a.
The doctor was
sentenced to two years in prison with hard labour for manslaughter and
three months for performing the banned practice. The doctor also
received a fine of EGP 500 ($US 68).
The father of Sohair was also sentenced to three months in prison for FGM.
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