According to a July report by UNICEF, the number of women that are undergoing female genital mutilation are dropping rapidly. This is because older generations do not approve of this ancient practice anymore, for their daughters and granddaughters.
Efua Dorkenoo, who is an advocacy director for the organization called Equality Now, spoke to National Geographic about the decline of this harmful practice, in saying, “When I started, we couldn’t even discuss this issue. Now there’s a growing voice, particularly among younger people, which is very very satisfying.”
By definition, female genital mutilation, involves removal of the clitoris or the outer lips and the sewing of labia. It is a 3000-year old custom that is common in areas where male domination abounds with almost 33 million girls at risk in this decade itself.
However, out of the 29 countries, according to the study, 24 countries have passed legislation against the practice but it also recommends that if new opinions are instilled against FGM in countries where this practice is heavily concentrated, the practice will decline even more rapidly.
This would include countries like Egypt, Somalia apart from countries in Africa and the Middle East where a large number of women between the ages of 15 and 49 have suffered from this initiation ritual in large numbers.
With this ritual also being given a lot of attention as both a childrens’ and womens’ rights issue, protection, education and prosecution is being advocated, considering how clearly FGM can be classified as violence against women and gender power control issue.