Female genital mutilation remains a global human rights violation

The terminology used to describe the practice has shifted over decades of advocacy. During the first years in which the practice was discussed outside practising groups, it was generally referred to as female circumcision. International bodies noted that this term drew a parallel with male circumcision and, as a result, created confusion between these two distinct practices.

The expression female genital mutilation gained growing support from the late 1970s. The word mutilation establishes a clear linguistic distinction from male circumcision, and emphasizes the gravity and harm of the act. Use of the word “mutilation” reinforces the fact that the practice is a violation of girls’ and women’s rights, and thereby helps to promote national and international advocacy for its abandonment. In 1990, this term was adopted at the third conference of the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Global Prevalence and Regional Scale in the Arab World

Internationally recognized as a human rights violation, it is estimated that some 230 million girls and women globally have undergone some form of female genital mutilation. In the Arab region around 50 million girls have already suffered female-genital mutilation, and the region accounts for around a quarter of all global cases. Protecting girls will take a significant push to eliminate this harmful, often deadly, practice. Coordinated and systematic efforts are needed, including engaging with whole communities and focusing on human rights and gender equality. Additionally, the sexual and reproductive health needs of women and girls who are subjected to the practice and its consequences must be urgently addressed.

Although the practice is declining in the majority of countries where it is prevalent, most of these countries are also experiencing a high rate of population growth – meaning that the number of girls who undergo female genital mutilation will continue to grow if the practice continues at current levels. UNFPA estimates 68 million girls are at risk of undergoing the practice between 2015 and 2030. In 2023, UNFPA estimated that nearly 4.3 million girls were at risk of female genital mutilation that year. Research also suggests that, if female genital mutilation continues at current rates, an estimated 68 million girls would be subjected to this practice between 2015 and 2030 in the 25 countries where it is routinely practised and where relevant data are available.

From 2020 through 2022, COVID-19 compounded the vulnerability of girls and women at risk of female genital mutilation. The pandemic further entrenched gender inequalities, economic disparities and health risks faced by women and girls and disrupted programmes to prevent female genital mutilation and other harmful practices. UNFPA estimates that, due to COVID-19, two million more cases of female genital mutilation could take place over the next decade if action is not scaled up.

Health Consequences and Terminology Evolution

Female genital mutilation refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It is a deeply entrenched – and deeply damaging – social and cultural norm in many places. The practice can cause short- and long-term health complications including chronic pain, infections, anxiety and depression, birth complications, infertility and, in the worst cases, death.

From the late 1990s the terms female genital cutting and female genital mutilation/cutting were increasingly used. The preference for this term was partly due to dissatisfaction with the negative association attached to the term “mutilation”, and some evidence that the use of that word was estranging practising communities and perhaps hindering the process of social change for the elimination of female genital mutilation.

Building on work from previous decades, in 1997, WHO issued a joint statement against the practice of FGM together with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). In 2008, WHO together with 9 other United Nations partners (UNAIDS, UNDP, UNECA, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHCHR, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIFEM, and WHO), issued a statement on the elimination of FGM to support increased advocacy for its abandonment, called: Eliminating female genital mutilation: an interagency statement. This statement provided evidence collected over the previous decade about the practice of FGM.

In May 2016, WHO in collaboration with the UNFPA-UNICEF joint programme on FGM launched the first evidence-based guidelines on the management of health complications from FGM. The guidelines were developed based on a systematic review of the best available evidence on health interventions for women living with FGM. To ensure the effective implementation of the guidelines, WHO is developing tools for front-line health-care workers to improve knowledge, attitudes, and skills of health care providers in preventing and managing the complications of FGM. In 2010, WHO published a Global strategy to stop health care providers from performing female genital mutilation in collaboration with other key UN agencies and international organizations.

International Frameworks and Collective Abandonment Strategies

It is internationally recognized as an extreme violation of the rights of women and girls. In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted the first-ever resolution against female genital mutilation, calling for intensified global efforts to eliminate the practice. In December 2012, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the elimination of female genital mutilation. In 2015, female genital mutilation was included in the Sustainable Development Goals under Target 5.3, which calls for the elimination of all harmful practices.

Progress at international, national and sub-national levels includes wider international involvement to stop FGM; international monitoring bodies and resolutions that condemn the practice; and revised legal frameworks and growing political support to end FGM (this includes a law against FGM in 26 countries in Africa and the Middle East, as well as in 33 other countries with migrant populations from FGM practicing countries). In 2007, UNFPA and UNICEF initiated the Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting to accelerate the abandonment of the practice.

In every society where it is practiced, female genital mutilation is a deeply entrenched social norm. In some societies, for example, it is considered a rite of passage. In others, it is seen as a prerequisite for marriage. Because female genital mutilation may be considered an important part of a culture or identity, it can be difficult for families to decide against having their daughters subjected to it. People who reject the practice may face condemnation or ostracism, and their daughters are often considered ineligible for marriage. As a result, even parents who do not want their daughters to undergo female genital mutilation may feel compelled to participate.

Research shows that, if practicing communities themselves decide to abandon FGM, the practice can be eliminated very rapidly. Building on a previous report from 2013, in 2016 UNICEF launched an updated report documenting the prevalence of FGM in 30 countries, as well as beliefs, attitudes, trends, and programmatic and policy responses to the practice globally. Since 1997, great efforts have been made to counteract FGM, through research, work within communities, and changes in public policy, with an increasing number of women and men in practising communities supporting ending its practice.