Every 12 minutes, a girl dies as a direct result of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C). That’s 5 girls in an hour, 120 girls a day, 44,320 girls every year. These are not just numbers—they represent real lives, dreams and futures lost to a practice without a medical purpose.
Female genital mutilation/cutting is the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It is most often carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15. Over 230 million girls and women alive today have been subjected to this practice. Despite often being framed as a traditional practice, hidden behind cultural justifications and misinformation, it is a severe form of violence against women and girls. With 4.3 million girls at risk each year, immediate action is required.
This new piece of research doesn’t only shine a light on the hidden impact of FGM/C, it provides an essential data set for grassroots activists. Despite the practice being illegal in lots of high prevalence countries, deaths as a result of FGM/C often go unreported. Nehlor from Libera was spared from FGM/C after her two childhold friends died from resultant haemorrhage on the day she was due to undergo the cut.
“The silence on the death of girls around the practice of FGM is a summary of the practice itself. The cutters present themselves as the goddesses. You are told if you express what has happened and what you witnessed, the ancestors…will come after you for revenge. You take an oath before graduation from the Sande ceremony including not to speak about it.”
The findings of the research are stark. Nehlor’s experience illustrates how FGM/C related deaths remain hidden within communities. Not only does this prevent the collection of data around the real impact of the practice, but it can create false narratives which undermine efforts to end FGM/C.
Jabou from The Gambia recalls how during last year when the laws banning FGM were attempted to be repealed that, “Proponents of the repeal relied on opinions from some medical professionals claiming FGM had no negative impacts.” In local newspapers in The Gambia, a Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology was quoted as saying, “in my practice, I have not seen a major complication that cannot be solved.” Comments such as these gave proponents of the repeal a push to continue their campaign.
The availability of the research from the University of Birmingham allows a robust data set to be relied on. With one girl dying every 12 minutes, this practice demands an immediate reframing of FGM/C from a harmful traditional practice to a pandemic of violence and a critical public health emergency requiring urgent global intervention and funding.
We’re calling for the international community to act through increased investment and stronger commitment to eliminating this practice.
For more information on this topic, make sure to check out The Hidden Toll: A Girl Dies Every 12 Minutes as a Result of FGM/C.
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