Egypt should extend the length of the prison sentence that applies to perpetrators of excision. In a country where 70% of young women have undergone mutilation.
Although female genital mutilation may be prohibited, it continues to claim many victims in Egypt. The most recent succumbed to the intervention last June, sparking outrage in the country.
On August 28, the government reiterated its desire to strengthen legislation. Up to seven years in prison: this is what awaits anyone who has performed excision and finds himself in court. The relatives at the origin of the operation, for their part, face one to three years imprisonment. Egyptian government agreed to this bill which still has to be debated in Parliament.
A law little applied
With this new legislation, Egypt is reinforcing a system already framed since 2008. Except “medical necessity”, all female genital mutilation is prohibited in this country. But this recent advance remains moderate. In fact, it was not until 2015 that a first doctor was sentenced after the death of a teenage girl. The application of the sentence was rather flexible: the man was sentenced to two years and three months in prison. He will only have done one quarter. To this day, the convictions remain marginal.
Logical result of this laxity, excision remains widely practiced in Egypt. Because of its ban, the statistics are disparate in this area. A study conducted in 2000 reported that 96.6% of women have been mutilated, regardless of their religion. The World Health Organization (WHO), which has officially taken a stand against these unnecessary and dangerous interventions, echoes more measured data. Between 1985 and 2015, the proportion of young girls victims of mutilation rose from 97 to 70%. A decline which remains largely insufficient.
The reluctance of doctors
The problem is all the more thorny as the doctors themselves adopt an ambiguous position on excision. The Stanford University School of Medicine (California, United States) looked into the matter. A health economist and a demographer published on August 25 the results of interviews with 410 Egyptian women living in the suburbs of Cairo or in a semi-rural city, in International Pespectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health.
92% of mothers were themselves cut in their childhood. Their testimonies reveal the extent of the problem: they are torn between prohibitions, information campaigns, fear of complications and family traditions. Because excision, in Egypt, dates back to the era of the pharaohs. She was supposed to “cleanse” women of their carnal desire.
As a last resort, a third of mothers turn to the doctor. “Women hear ambiguous messages and do not know what to do, so they wait for the doctor’s final decision”, summarizes Sepideh Modrek, who signs this work. But this learned word struggles to impose itself because these professionals do not provide a clear answer: some ask for a subsequent consultation, others elude.
200 million women
“The doctor is perceived as the voice of reason, the most legitimate. According to the women we interviewed, they don’t take a stand to say that they don’t need it, ”says Sepideh Modrek. No doubt because these same health professionals are those who practice genital mutilation, even if 61% of the procedures are carried out at home.
The risks are however real. As the WHO points out, excisions can cause infections, hemorrhages and death. In the longer term, they are sometimes the cause of urinary or sexual disorders and pregnancy complications.
Egypt is far from being an isolated case in this obvious violation of women’s rights. 200 million women have undergone genital mutilation in 30 countries.
Some do not intend to follow WHO recommendations. Mufti Ismail Berdiev, head of the North Caucasus Muslim Coordination Center, said August 17th that excision was necessary to fight against “sexual immorality”. There is still a long way to go.
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