{"id":32120,"date":"2019-02-06T22:23:30","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T22:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=32120"},"modified":"2019-02-06T22:23:30","modified_gmt":"2019-02-06T22:23:30","slug":"egypt-opposition-rejects-move-to-extend-el-sisis-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=32120","title":{"rendered":"Egypt opposition rejects move to extend El-Sisi\u2019s rule"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nBEIRUT:\u00a0Doctors at two Cairo hospitals will pin blue ribbon badges to the clothing of newborn baby girls on Wednesday as they launch a campaign to persuade parents in Egypt to \u201csay no to female genital mutilation (FGM).\u201d<\/p>\n

\nThe country has the highest number of women affected by FGM in the world, with nearly nine in 10 having been cut, according to UN data.<\/p>\n

\nParents will receive the badges \u2014 which resemble the Arabic word \u201cno\u201d and look like an upside down version of awareness ribbons for HIV\/AIDS and breast cancer \u2014 after signing a pledge that they will not have their daughters cut.<\/p>\n

\nActivists hope more hospitals will join the campaign, which launches on International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM.<\/p>\n

\nFGM was banned in Egypt in 2008 and criminalized in 2016, but the practice persists, with most procedures now carried out by health professionals.<\/p>\n

\nMany families see FGM as a religious obligation and a way to preserve their daughter\u2019s virginity.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIt is a wrong and ugly belief. We have to make clear that FGM (does not stop) sexual desire,\u201d said pediatric doctor Amira Edris who works at one of the Cairo hospitals.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI have a veil on my head and I respect religious rules … but this is not a religious rule \u2014 it is a false belief,\u201d she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.<\/p>\n

\nFGM, which commonly involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia, is practiced in a swathe of African countries and parts of Asia and the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\nIt is often done by traditional cutters with unsterilized blades, but there is an increasing trend for FGM to be carried out by health professionals \u2014 particularly in Egypt, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria and Sudan.<\/p>\n

\nGlobal anti-FGM group 28 Too Many, which is working with the Egyptian hospitals, said the \u201cmedicalization of FGM\u201d was hindering efforts to end the practice.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cBy having the backing of hospitals in the campaign, we are showing that FGM is wrong, wherever it is carried out,\u201d said 28 Too Many founder Ann-Marie Wilson.<\/p>\n

\nFGM can cause a host of serious health problems including infections and infertility.<\/p>\n

\nThere has been mounting concern over the practice in Egypt following the deaths of several girls during botched procedures.<\/p>\n

\nEdris said she had been particularly affected by the death of a 7-year-old girl from FGM.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe couldn\u2019t save her … she bled to death. I remember she started to hallucinate … and she knew she was going to die \u2014 this really traumatized me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\nAmel Fahmy, director of women\u2019s advocacy group Tadwein which is backing the campaign, said doctors were ideally placed to spread awareness of FGM.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWe can\u2019t be shy about this. It\u2019s time to talk about this as a harmful practice, and for doctors to tell parents you shouldn\u2019t do this to your daughter,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\nWhat is female genital mutilation and where does it happen?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nWorld leaders have pledged to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM) by 2030, but campaigners say the ancient ritual remains deeply entrenched in many places.<\/p>\n

\nInternational Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on Wednesday will highlight efforts to end the widely condemned practice thought to affect at least 200 million girls and women globally. Here are some facts:<\/p>\n

\n\u2022 FGM dates back over 2,000 years and is practiced across many cultures and religions.<\/p>\n

\n\u2022 It is practiced in at least 30 countries, mostly in Africa but also in pockets of the Middle East and Asia.<\/p>\n

\n\u2022 FGM typically involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia. In some cases the vaginal opening is sewn up. Other procedures, more common in parts of Asia, include nicking or pricking the clitoris.<\/p>\n

\n\u2022 FGM can cause longlasting mental and physical health problems including chronic infections, menstrual problems, infertility, pregnancy and childbirth complications.<\/p>\n

\n\u2022 Somalia has the world\u2019s highest FGM prevalence (98 percent of women have been cut), followed by Guinea, Djibouti, Mali and Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n

\n\u2022 Of the 28 countries in Africa where FGM is endemic, 22 have legislation criminalizing FGM, although enforcement is generally weak and prosecutions rare.<\/p>\n

\n\u2022 Half of all girls who have undergone FGM or are at risk live in three countries \u2014 Egypt, Ethiopia and Nigeria \u2014 all of which have laws against FGM.<\/p>\n

\n\u2022 Chad, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan, which are home to 16 million girls, have no law.<\/p>\n

\n\u2022 There is an increasing trend for FGM to be carried out by health professionals rather than traditional cutters, particularly in Egypt, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria and Sudan.<\/p>\n

\n\u2022 The ritual, often justified for cultural or religious reasons, is underpinned by the desire to control female sexuality.<\/p>\n

\n\u2022 Somalia and Somaliland are drafting laws against FGM.<\/p>\n

\n\u2022 Despite not yet having a law, Somalia announced its first FGM prosecution last year after a 10-year-old girl died.<\/p>\n

\n\u2014 Compiled by Reuters<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIRUT:\u00a0Doctors at two Cairo hospitals will pin blue ribbon badges to the clothing of newborn baby girls on Wednesday as they launch a campaign to persuade parents in Egypt to \u201csay no to female genital mutilation (FGM).\u201d The country has the highest number of women affected by FGM in the world, with nearly nine in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":32121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/32121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}