Female Genital Mutilation Harms 4 Million Girls per Year

The United Nations Women agency warned that at least four million girls undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) year, ahead of the  International Day on Zero FGM on February 6, 2021.

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United Nations agencies denounced in a joint statement today that over two million cases could occur in the next decade due to confinement measures taken amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The widespread harmful practice, also called cutting, "involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for no medical reason. It is also considered a violation of human rights by the United Nations, and its elimination is one of the targets of the Sustainable Development World Goals by 2030.

It is estimated that FGM is practiced in more than 30 countries, mostly in Africa and in some parts of Asia and the  Middle East. According to a study published in September 2020 by the anti-FGM charity Orchid Project, FGM cases increased during the  COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Liberia.

Nonetheless, according to UN Women, "at least 59 countries have passed laws against FGM, including 26 of the 29 African countries where FGM is most concentrated." Yet, the FGM is a cultural practice deeply rooted that continues jeopardizing the lives of girls. As of today, the organization reports that there have been 200 survivors of FGM.