Female Genital Mutilation In Africa

This report provides an explanation of the practice of female circumcision - its extent, practice, historical antecedents, contemporary practice, medical and social consequences, and campaigns against it (legal, medical and social) in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Medically unnecessary and extremely painful operations are routinely carried out on babies and young girls. In their most severe forms they involve the partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia. This little known custom affects more than 80 million women and girls in over 20 countries in Africa. Please note that the terminology in the fields of minority rights and indigenous peoples’ rights has changed over time. MRG strives to reflect these changes as well as respect the right to self-identification on the part of minorities and indigenous peoples. At the same time, after over 50 years’ work, we know that our archive is of considerable interest to activists and researchers. Therefore, we make available as much of our back catalogue as possible, while being aware that the language used may not reflect current thinking on these issues.