Today, female genital abuse (FGM) affects some 200 million women, according to the UN, while its abolition before 2030 is among the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by this organization in 2015.
According to the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO), female genital mutilation covers all interventions including the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or any other lesion of the female genitalia that are carried out for non-medical reasons. »
Following the pandemic, an aggravation of the phenomenon
On the occasion of the 11th International Day against Female Genital Abuse on Monday February 6, 2023, the UN expressed concern about a foreseeable increase in victims of FGM in 2023: according to its projections, approximately 4.3 million young women will be affected, i.e. 300,000 more than initially forecast. A figure that is expected to grow further by 2030.
This upward revision is notably linked to the shock wave of the Covid-19 epidemic which has hampered the implementation of programs intended to combat this violence. These practices are currently widespread in 31 countries, and in an aggravated way in 17 of them, underlines the UN.
Reinforced legislation, hampered by the weight of tradition
Excision, the most widespread type of mutilation, remains prevalent in 31 countries in Africa and the Middle East, due to the weight of tradition. For some of them, the law condemns these practices and frames their criminalization, explains Judith Coronel-Kissous, lawyer and administrator at GAMS (Group for the abolition of sexual mutilation).
This is particularly the case in Côte d’Ivoire, where the prevalence rate of sexually mutilated women nevertheless remains at 37%. Within the European Union, some 530,000 women have undergone excision, France alone accounting for 50% of them, alerted Public Health France in 2019.
The education of men, a key issue
For Julie Dubois, child protection specialist at UNICEF, the involvement of men in the fight against this scourge remains a “unrealized potential”. The goal, she says to The crossis to help them to seize this subject.
Of the 300 million men residing in the 31 countries where this type of mutilation persists, notes the specialist, two thirds condemn these practices. “ Lift social pressure is one of the key elements in the fight against FGM: Men oppose it, but never speak out on these issues. A silence that hinders the fight against this scourge.