6TH FEBRUARY EACH YEAR HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AS THE "INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR ZERO TELERENCE OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION"

 

FIGO REAFFIRMS ITS STANCE ON THE NEED TO ELIMINATE FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

 

 

Female Genital Mutilation (or “Female Genital Cutting” as it is sometimes referred to) continues to constitute a major public health problem affecting the health of women and children around the world. It is highly prevalent in 28 countries in Asia and the Middle East.

Between 100 and 140 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to this harmful practice and about three million girls and women are at risk of undergoing this procedure every year.

 

The serious health consequences of female genital mutilation are of great concern to FIGO – carrying as it does the risk of immediate complications, which include severe pain, shock, haemorrhage, tetanus, sepsis, urine retention, ulceration of the genital region and injury to adjacent genital tissue.

 

The long-term consequences include an increased risk of maternal morbidity, recurrent bladder and urinary tract infection, cysts, infertility and adverse psychological and sexual consequences. There is an increased risk of neonatal death for babies born to mothers having undergone female genital mutilation.

As long ago as 1994, the FIGO General Assembly adopted a resolution that invites member associations of obstetrics and gynecology to work towards the elimination of female genital mutilation.

 

In this resolution FIGO invites Member Societies to:

·        URGE their governments to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, if they have not already done so, and to ensure the implementation of the articles of the Convention, if the Convention has already been ratified.

·        URGE their governments to take legal and/or other measures to render this practice socially unacceptable by all sectors and groups in society.

·        COLLABORATE with national authorities, non-governmental and inter-governmental organizations to advocate, promote and support measures aiming at the elimination of female genital mutilation.

FIGO recommends that obstetricians and gynecologists:

·        EXPLAIN the immediate dangers and long-term consequences of female genital mutilation to religious leaders, legislators and decision makers.

·        EDUCATE health professionals, community workers and teachers about this harmful traditional practice.

·        SUPPORT those men and women who want to end the practice in their families or communities.

·        ASSIST in research for the documentation of the prevalence of the practice and its harmful consequences.

·        OPPOSE any attempt to medicalize the procedure or to allow its performance, under any circumstances, in health establishments or by health professionals.

The FIGO General Assembly has also over the years adopted a number of other resolutions supportive of the elimination of female genital mutilation

 

·        Violence Against Women (Copenhagen 1997)

 

·        Women's Rights related  to Reproductive and Sexual Health (Washington DC 2000)

 

·        Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Rights - A Social Responsibility for Obstetricians-Gynecologists (Santiago 2003)

 

·        FIGO Professional and Ethical Responsibilities Concerning Sexual and Reproductive Rights (Santiago 2003)

 

Progress towards the elimination of female genital mutilation has been slow.

The increasing involvement of health professionals in performing the practice is a cause of great concern and FIGO strongly reaffirms its position against medicalization of the practice and encourages the implementation of legislative and professional regulatory measures to guard against it.

 

Concerted multi-sectional efforts at national and international levels need to be strengthened in support of the abandonment of the practice as a major contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals on promoting gender equity and empowerment of women, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health.