For millions of Egyptian girls summer holiday has nothing to do with leisure and joy, but it is a time of losing an essential part of their body and dignity.
For millions of schoolgirls in Egypt, this time represents the start of the FGM season.
FGM has been illegal in Egypt since 2008. Since then the percentage of victims has dropped from 75 to 61 in 2014.
The overall situation in Egypt is still disastrous: 92 percent of all women have been “purified” and thus prepared for the marriage.
The practice is deeply rooted in Egyptian society and is accepted even by doctors, judges and teachers. To change something, you need to work on people’s convictions.
To that end, the UNFPA has hired a theatre group to perform comedic skits in the streets of communities across the country to foster debate and doubt about the necessity of FGM.
In January a doctor was sentenced on charges related to mutilating a girl – the first conviction of its kind since the 2008 ban went into effect.
We can only hope that the country will be able to rid itself of this horrible record: One out of four mutilated women in the world comes from Egypt.
We will fight against this cruel crime there!
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