Most married Egyptian women have had their genitals mutilated - Yahoo News

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Most married Egyptian women have had their genitals mutilated

By Shana Genever 

Around 92% of married Egyptian women have underdone female genital mutilation, which entails the deliberate removal of all or part of the external female genitalia. This was revealed at a conference held to about the findings of the 2014 Egypt Demographic and Health Survey.

Egypt has one of the highest rates of female genital mutilation in the world, despite the procedure and practices being banned in 2008. The effects of the brutal procedure include intense pain, shock, haemorrhage, tetanus or sepsis (bacterial infection), urine retention, open sores in the genital region as well as injury to the surrounding genital tissue.

Egyptian Minister of health Adel Adaway said the study is in relation to women between the ages of 15 and 49, and the risk of mutilation is even higher in the rural parts of the country.

Previously referred to as ‘female circumcision’, there are no health benefits to the procedure, and it has now been deemed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as an ‘injury’ to the sexual organs.

Shockingly, majority of the women agree to the ‘operation’, (which is hardly performed by medical professionals), as they believe it is ‘in accordance with religious teachings’.

In some cultures, the procedure is carried out on babies, while others see it as a rite of passage into adulthood, conditioning the female for marriage, to ensure men they are marrying virgins.

According to WHO, female genital mutilation is classified into four major types.

Clitoridectomy: partial or total removal of the clitoris (a small, sensitive and erectile part of the female genitals) and, in very rare cases, only the prepuce (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris).

Excision: partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora (the labia are “the lips” that surround the vagina).

Infibulations: narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal. The seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the inner, or outer, labia, with or without removal of the clitoris.

Other: all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, e.g. pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area.

More than 3 million African girls are estimated to be at risk of female genital mutilation every year, according to WHO.