Support for FGM in Guinea ‘increasing’
Print Edition
GIRLS in Guinea are increasingly being subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) before the age of 10, and support for the practice among women and girls in the West African nation is on the rise, the United Nations rights office said yesterday.
Seven in 10 women in Guinea aged 20 to 24 were cut before their 10th birthday, compared to 60 percent of women aged 45 to 49, despite the fact that FGM has been illegal since 1965, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
While women and girls in most countries where FGM is practiced largely want it to be abolished, three-quarters of the female population in Guinea were in favor of FGM as of 2012, up from two-thirds in 1999, according to a report by the OHCHR.
“Non-excision of girls is considered dishonorable in Guinean society,” said the report. “Social pressure is such that girls may request excision for fear of being excluded or forced to stay unmarried if they do not suffer the practice.”
While FGM is banned in Guinea, support from political and religious leaders, inaction by the justice system, and impunity for practitioners mean it remains widespread.
Guinea has the second highest rate of FGM in the world after Somalia, with about 97 percent of women and girls cut, according to the UN’s children’s agency UNICEF.
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