In a surprising move which was counted as a victory for females and feminists in Egypt, a court sentenced a father to a three-year jail term with hard labor and a nurse for 10 years after permanently injuring a teenage girl through Female Genital Mutilations (FGM).
According to sources, the male nurse was tried and sentenced in absentia while the girl’s father, an accused in the same case, was sentenced to three years in prison. However, both men are able to appeal their sentences.
في خطوة غير مسبوقة، قضت محكمة مصرية بالسجن 3 سنوات مع الشغل بحق والد طفلة، والسجن المشدد 10 سنوات بحق ممرض بعد إدانتهما بختان الطفلة، والتسبب لها بعاهة مستديمة.
— HuMedia (@Humedia1) September 27, 2021
سجلت #مصر أعلى نسبة في ختان الإناث في العالم، ما دفع مجلس النواب لإقرار مشروع قانون يغلظ عقوبة الختان في أبريل الماضي. pic.twitter.com/6Q0ZDL8l0Q
The case has been going on since February when the nurse and the father were arrested.
A doctor who works at one of the capital’s hospitals has reported the crime after the teen girl came with an unstoppable bleeding after the failed illegal-operation.
to bleed severely.
— GIRDLE #EndFGM #Endchildmarriage: News! Advocacy! (@thegirdlengr) September 28, 2021
The 10-year prison verdict meted out by the court north of Cairo is the longest since Egypt toughened penalties for performing the now-banned FGM.
About 90% of Egyptian women and girls aged b/w 15 and 49 have undergone FGM, according to a 2016 survey by @UNICEF
A UNICEF survey in 2016 indicated that about 90% of Egyptian women and girls aged between 15 and 49 have undergone illegal FGM. Despite the fact that illegal operations were banned by the Egyptian government in 2008 and cases decreased, some operations are still practiced under the shadow.
On the other hand, Egypt nowadays is planning to put its foot down against such inhuman acts which can lead women and females to permanent disability by putting new law to jail people who practice FGM up to 2 decades in jail.
#Egypt now has the region’s first ever multidisciplinary center for #FGM survivors, where services include clitoral reconstruction surgery and therapy. Thank you @SanamF24 for highlighting co-founder Dr. Reem Awwad’s work to help survivors and #EndFGM
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) February 16, 2021
pic.twitter.com/rXcXdKmXFo
Dr. Reem Awwad is the co-founder of region’s first ever multidisciplinary center for FGM survivors, where services include clitoral reconstruction surgery and therapy raising hopes that such act will disappear from the community soon.
In fact not only Egypt is still practicing such operations it is still practiced in 28 other countries including, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Nigeria.
This essay in Arabic is a reminder that #FGM is about patriarchy: men insist on it as a way to control women’s sexuality and then men complain women are “frigid.” Women don’t come with an on/off button for male sexual pleasure. #EndFGM https://t.co/uY8WBqlrow
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) February 14, 2018
Female genital mutilation (FGM) according to WHO involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
FGM can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths. As the practice has no health benefits for girls and women.
