News

Egypt Outlaws Circumcision

Friday 29th June 2007
It has been reported today that Egypt has announced that it is imposing a complete ban on female circumcision. The announcement follows a public outcry after a young girl died during the operation. Officially the practice, which affects both Muslim and Christian women in Egypt and goes back to the time of the pharoahs, was banned in 1997 but doctors were allowed to operate "in exceptional cases".

On Thursday, Health Minister Hatem al-Gabali decided to ban every doctor and member of the medical profession, in public or private establishments, from carrying out a clitoridectomy (amputation of the clitoris), said a ministry press official.

Any circumcision "will be viewed as a violation of the law and all contraventions will be punished," said the official, adding that it was a "permanent ban". Egypt's first lady, Susanne Mubarak, has spoken out strongly against female circumcision, saying that it is a flagrant example of continued physical and psychological violence against children which must stop.

It is not clear at this stage if the ban covers only clitoridectomy or also lesser forms of female circumcision, which the UK and most Western countries have also banned.

A survey in 2000 said that circumcision had been carried out on some 97 percent of the country's women, many of whom believe that, amongst other things, it is 'more hygienic', preferred by male lovers and will protect them from disease.

BBC News: Egypt forbids female circumcision