FGM has been banned in Egypt since 2008, yet the country still has one of the highest rates of the practice in the world.
Among some conservative Muslim communities there, women are regarded as “unclean” and “not ready for marriage” unless FGM – the deliberate cutting or removal of a female’s external genitalia – is performed. Under the law, doctors can be jailed for up to seven years if found guilty of carrying out the procedure, and anyone who requests it faces up to three years in prison.
