International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation

  FGM has no health benefits, and the removal of or damage to healthy genital tissue interferes with the natural functioning of the body and may lead to several immediate and long-term health consequences. Despite strong evidence on the increased risk of adverse health outcomes associated with FGM, health workers in many settings do not receive adequate training to properly identify and manage complications of FGM. Recent systematic reviews and meta-analysis found statistically significant associations between different types of FGM and a range of health complications, with more severe forms of FGM being associated with greater risks. The health complications associated with various forms of FGM include an increased risk for the following obstetric complications: prolonged/obstructed labour, obstetric tears, caesarean birth, postpartum haemorrhage, episiotomy, fetal distress, extended maternal hospital stay, neonatal asphyxia and stillbirth/ neonatal death. Several gynaec...

The practice of FGM violates a series of well established human rights principles, norms and standards, including the principles of equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex, the right to life (when the procedure results in death), and the right to freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as well as the rights of the child to physical and mental integrity (25). Since FGM interferes with healthy genital tissue in the absence of medical necessity and can lead to severe consequences for a woman’s physical and mental health, it is also a violation of a person’s right to the highest attainable standard of health. A variety of human rights treaties and agreements have also pronounced FGM to be a manifestation of violence against women and girls, and a practice that sustains unequal gender norms and stereotypes that contravene human rights.  Human rights treaty monitoring bodies have consistently made it clear that harmful practices like FGM c...