Doctors committed FGM among 74% of Egypt's victims aged below 19: CAPMAS

CAIRO – 30 August 2022: Consultant to Chairman of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) Abdel Hamid Sharaf El Din stated in a press conference Tuesday that 74 percent of FGM victims aged below 19, were subjected to the crime by doctors.

Nevertheless, FGM dropped from 92 percent in 2014 to 86 percent in 2021, where the regression happening mostly among females aged below 19, the consultant to CAPMAS chairman pointed out.

Sharaf El Din added that FGM victims composed 14 percent of females aged below 19 in 2021, down from 21 percent in 2014. As for the percentage of those at risk, it fell from 56 percent in 2014 to 27 percent in 2021.

Further, FGM decreased among married/used to be married women to be 86 percent in 2021, compared to 92 percent. The current percentages in rural and urban areas are 86.6 percent and 76.7 percent, respectively.

Sadly, FGM rose in Upper Egypt to become 92 percent, with the percentage in Upper Egyptian rural areas being 93.4 percent.

The House of Representatives Approved in March 2021 toughening the penalties imposed on medics who carry out Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

According to the amendments, committing the crime incurs five years in prison, and not less than seven years, if a permanent damage occurs. If the victim dies as a consequence, the culprit shall be sentenced to at least 10 years of prison.

The establishment where the crime is committed shall be shut down for the same number of years of the penalty handed to the doctor or nurse implicated. That is if the owner knows that the place was used for that purpose.

The convict shall pay for publishing the news in two daily newspapers and news websites with a wide reach. Those would be designated by the judge.