Against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

Where and which girls are circumcised?

According to recent numbers of the WHO there are 100 to 140 million girls and women currently living with the consequences of FGM. Each year 3 million girls are at risk of being circumcised.

The exact age that girls are circumcised can vary from a few days after the birth to a few days before the marriage. It commonly takes place before the first menstruation. Most Somali girls are circumcised between the ages 6 till 9. The circumcision is often performed during the holidays, so that the girls can recover.

Female circumcision takes place in 28 countries in Africa, but also in some parts of Asia (such as Indonesia and Malaysia) and in the Middle-East (such as Yemen, Iraq (North Kurdistan). Some types of female circumcision are common among ethnic groups in Central and South-America. In the last few decades female circumcision even occurs in the Western countries as result of migration, this includes the Netherlands. Somalia, Northern-Sudan and Djibouti hold the highest percentage of circumcised women. In these countries the most drastic type of circumcision is applied.

Bron: Eliminating Female genital mutilation: An interagency statement WHO

Land	Jaar		Geschatte aantal gevallen van vrouwelijke genitale verminking bij meisjes en vrouwen 15 – 49 jaar (%)
Benin		2001	12,9
Burkina Faso		2005	72,5
Centraal Afrikaanse Republic		2005	25,7
Djibouti		2006	93,1
Egypte		2005	91,1
Eritrea		2002	88,7
Ethiopië		2005	74,3
Gambia		2005	78,3
Ghana		2005	3,8
Guinee		2005	95,6
Guinee-Bissau		2005	44,5
Ivoorkust		2005	36,4
Jemen		1997	38,2
Kameroen		2004	1,4
Kenia		2003	27,1
Liberia			58,2
Mali		2001	85,2
Mauritanië		2001	72,2
Niger		2006	2,2
Nigeria		2003	29,6
Oeganda		2006	0,6
Senegal		2005	28,2
Sierra Leone		2005	94,0
Somalië		2005	97,9
Soedan, het noorden(circa 80% van de totale bevolking)		2000	90,0
Tanzania		2004	14,6
Togo		2005	5,8
Tsjaad		2004	44,9

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