FGM in Egypt

For the first time in Egypt, charges are being laid against a doctor for committing female genital mutilation after a 13-year-old girl, Sohair al-Bata, died after allegedly undergoing FGM at his clinic. Sohair's father is also facing prosecution: her family had purportedly asked for the procedure to be carried out.

FGM has been officially banned in Egypt since 2008, but a majority of the country's women are still subjected to it. This Guardian article on the case cites the following statistic: 91% of married Egyptian women aged between 15 and 49 have been subjected to FGM, 72% of them by doctors.' It is claimed by FGM supporters that the practice makes women less likely to commit adultery.

There are also millions of women in other countries who undergo such mutilation, a common practice in many African countries and some others in the Middle East and Asia. It is a complicated issue as often women in the societies practising FGM support it.

Here's the FGM wikipedia page if anyone is interested in reading more,
a factsheet on FGM in the US,
and an article on trying to prevent FGM in Britain, perhaps relevant to the US.

- Sarah