This column of “Did You Know…” is intended to help inform and educate our readers on the practice of FGM. Starting with this edition, we will bring you a series, featuring a FGM-practicing country each week.
Female genital mutilation is forbidden by Islam, according to an Islamic scholar interviewed by a reporter from the Cairo Post. In the same report, the reporter revealed that special FGM shops have opened for business in certain parts of Egypt.
In 2008 the practice of FGM was banned in Egypt, the first African nation to outlaw the practice. Despite the illegality, the practice in this country has skyrocketed; and families can now have their little girls mutilated for less than the equivalent of ten U.S. Dollars ($10.00). In recent months, Egypt has been referred to as the FGM capital of the world.
Last year, a 13-year old girl died in Egypt after she had undergone FGM. Her death spurred controversy worldwide after her father and the excisors were both arrested and prosecuted in Egypt. This latest release out of Egypt only confirmed that making the practice of FGM illegal in any country is not enough. The excisors are daring and defiant of the law; actual enforcement of the law is paramount and not just making it an article in the law books.