Egypt Seeks Tougher Penalties for People Who Perform Female Circumcision

Female circumcision, or female genital mutilation (FGM), was banned in Egypt in 2008. But the practice involving the partial or full removal of the external sex organs, ostensibly to control women's sexuality, remains widespread, especially in rural areas.

In Egypt, the procedure is practiced by both Muslims and Christians. FGM can cause lifelong pain, including extreme discomfort during sexual intercourse, serious complications during childbirth and psychological trauma. Under the current law, those who practice FGM can be sentenced to jail terms of between three months and two years.

UN Urges 'Social' Approach Against Female Circumcision
The UN children's agency on Thursday proposed a new approach for ending female genital mutilation, saying campaigns should work with communities instead of fighting local traditions.

‘Egypt's government said that it will ask parliament to approve a draft law that would increase jail terms for those who perform female circumcision.’

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Egypt's government said that it will ask parliament to approve a draft law that would increase jail terms for those who perform female circumcision. The new bill would see those convicted of female circumcision jailed for between five and seven years, a statement from the prime minister's office said.

The government also proposes that those convicted be given jail terms with hard labor if the procedure leads to the death or permanent physical disability of the women being circumcised.

Activists say the campaign to end the practice may have suffered a setback with the 2011 overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak, whose regime imposed the ban.

EU to Eradicate Female Circumcision
The European Union is committed to eradicating female genital mutilation. The foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Sunday said that this practice is an exceptionally brutal crime .

Some Islamists argued that the ban was a legacy of his autocratic rule which should not be enforced.

The government bill also calls for anyone who forces a female to undertake the procedure to be jailed for between one and three years.

Female Circumcision Renounced by Mali Communities
Community leaders gathered in Mali on Thursday to publicly renounce the practice of female genital mutilation to mark an international day of campaigning against female circumcision.

In May 2016, an Egyptian teenager who had undergone FGM died of complications.

Her mother, the doctor who carried out the procedure and two other people have been accused of "involuntary manslaughter" and are to face trial.

Kenyan Maasai Girls Flee Female Circumcision
A small church house shelters about a dozen Maasai girls escaping female circumcision and early marriage, age-old customs of the Kenyan tribe now frayed by health risks and new laws.

In January 2015, a doctor was sentenced to two years in jail for involuntary manslaughter and three months for practicing female genital mutilation, after a 14-year-old girl died during an operation he performed. He served only the three-month sentence.

FGM is also practiced in a number of other African countries as well as in parts of the Middle East, and is usually carried out by women.

Source-AFP