More than 125 million girls and women have undergone FGM. The practice varies from country to country. Here are some facts.
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – More than 125 million girls and women have undergone some form of female genital mutilation (FGM) in 29 countries across Africa and the Middle East, according to a major UNICEF report. Another 30 million girls are at risk of being cut in the next decade.
Below are some of the report's findings on FGM, which show how attitudes to the practice vary:
MALI: 58 percent of girls who have been cut have mothers who oppose the practice
BURKINA FASO: 76 percent of girls and women have been cut, but only 9 percent favour continuing FGM
KENYA: 59 percent of girls and women who have been cut see no benefit in FGM
GUINEA: 42 percent of boys and men think FGM should stop compared to 19 percent of girls and women
CAMEROON: 85 percent of boys and men think FGM should stop
SIERRA LEONE: 51 percent of couples do not agree on whether FGM should continue or stop
NIGERIA: Around a third of people report they do not know what the opposite sex thinks about FGM
SOMALIA: 63 percent of girls who have had FGM had their genitalia sewn closed
EGYPT: 77 percent of those who underwent FGM were cut by a medical professional
YEMEN: In 97 percent of cases, girls underwent FGM in their homes and 75 percent were cut with a blade or razor
MAURITANIA: On average girls are cut when they are just one month old
TOGO: 21 percent of Muslim girls and women have undergone FGM, compared to 1 percent of Christians
NIGER: 55 percent of Christian girls and women have undergone FGM, compared to 2 percent of Muslims
FGM prevalence in Africa and the Middle East
Very high prevalence rates (percentages in brackets)
Somalia (98), Guinea (96), Djibouti (93), Egypt (91), Eritrea (89), Mali (89), Sierra Leone (88), Sudan (88)
Medium to high
Burkina Faso (76), Gambia (76), Ethiopia (74), Mauritania (69), Liberia (66), Guinea-Bissau (50)
Moderate to medium
Chad (44), Ivory Coast (38), Kenya (27), Nigeria (27), Senegal (26), Central African Republic (24), Yemen (23)
Low
Tanzania (15), Benin (13), Iraq (8), Ghana (4), Togo (4), Niger (2), Cameroon (1), Uganda (1)
(FGM is practised in a handful of other countries, most notably Indonesia, but the UNICEF report excluded them because of a lack of data.)
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