February 6, 2012 and for each year, has been designated International Zero Tolerance Day for Female Genital Mutilation by the United Nations.
It is worth clarifying, of course, that the female genitals are defined as the vagina and vulva (which may also have trans, intersex or non-binary individuals) and that all female genital mutilation procedures are defined as amputation or injury of the vagina. or vulva, as well as partial or total removal of the external genitalia for non-medical reasons.
These practices are internationally recognized as a violation of the human rights, health and integrity of girls, women and other people born with the vagina and vagina.
Despite being internationally recognized as a human rights violation, however, this mutilation has taken place in at least 200 million people in 31 countries (on three continents), with more than half of them living in Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia. According to UNICEF, one third of girls worldwide are born in these countries. Also, according to the United Nations, this non-medical mutilation is a common practice for several migrant populations living in Western Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.
Genital mutilation is most often performed from an early age, usually under the age of 15 and up to infancy, and people who undergo it experience short-term complications such as severe pain, shock, excessive bleeding, infections (which can lead to death) and difficulty urinating, but also long-term consequences for their sexual and reproductive and mental health.
Based on the United Nations Sexual and Reproductive Health Organization (UNFPA) It is estimated that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be up to 2 million cases of vulvar amputation by 2030, which could have been avoided. This is because many countries are experiencing a “crisis within a crisis” due to the pandemic, which is leading, among other things, to the strengthening of such human rights violations. At the same time, it is estimated that over 4 million people each year are at risk of having their vagina amputated. As estimated by UNFPA, the cost of preventing and avoiding this non-medical amputation is estimated at $ 95 per year per person.
The medicalization of vulvar amputation
Another worrying fact is the trend in recent years to medicalize vulvar amputation, in which this practice is now practiced by medical staff. In fact, it is now estimated that about one in four people who have had their vagina amputated (approximately 52 million people worldwide) have undergone it by approved medical personnel. This medicalization not only violates medical ethics, but also runs the risk of legitimizing the practice and at the same time giving the impression that vulvar amputation for non-medical reasons is acceptable and safe for human health.
The Global Program to Accelerate the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation
Since 2008, UNFPA, together with UNICEF, has been leading the world’s largest program to accelerate the elimination of female genital mutilation. The joint program currently focuses on 17 countries in Africa and the Middle East and also supports regional and global initiatives. In addition to these 17 countries (Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Somalia, Uganda) the governments of Austria, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, AECID (Spain), Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, as well as the European Union.
Over the years, this collaboration has achieved significant victories. For example, more than 2.8 million people took part in public demonstrations to eradicate the practice, and the number of communities setting up surveillance structures to monitor children and adolescents at risk doubled, protecting 213,774 people from to be put into practice.
Finally, it is estimated that, thanks to the actions and mobilization that now exists against non-medical amputation of the vulva, the probability of a child undergoing such practices has been reduced by one third.
With the hashtag #EndFGM, the UN and UNICEF invite us to take part in the campaign for the day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation. Learn more here.
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