This past month, a doctor who is both a member of the Egyptian parliament and a member of its health committee stated that, “leaving women uncircumcised is unhealthy”.
These shocking words came during discussions of the female genital mutilation (FGM) law amendments presented by the National Council for Population (NPC) to the People’s Assembly—the lower house of Egypt’s parliament. The suggested amendments include increasing the imprisonment sentences and fines—under Article 246 of the Egyptian Penal Code, FGM is punishable with a minimum of three months to a maximum of two years in prison, and a maximum fine of LE 5,000. The NPC proposal came as a reaction to the recent death of a young girl, Mayar Mohamed Mousa, while undergoing FGM by a medical doctor at one of the hospitals in the Al-Suez governorate. The tragedy received widespread national and international media attention, but this is not the first time a young girl has bled to death as a consequence of FGM. In June 2013, a 13-year-old girl, Soheir El Bataa, died while undergoing circumcision also performed by a medical doctor in a private clinic. In a country where more than 65% of the girls between the ages of 15-17 are circumcised, countless girls have either died or have suffered from permanent disabilities as result of performing FGM. But because families do not usually report these cases, statistics are hard to verify and perpetrators are not punished.
The original 2008 law and ministerial decree on FGM were issued in response to the death of Bodor Ahmed Shake’r, from Minya governorate, who died after undergoing FGM in a private clinic in June 2007. The state’s inability or unwillingness to uphold the law is reflected in the fact that only one case has been pursued since the 2008 law came into place. Raslan Fadl, the medical doctor who performed FGM on Soheir El Bataa, is the only doctor who has been prosecuted so far. The first court in Daqahlia acquitted both the doctor and the victim’s father of involuntary manslaughter, which sparked an international outrage and pushed the state to appeal. After the appeal, Fadl was sentenced to two years in jail for involuntary manslaughter, and issued an additional three-month sentence for illegally performing FGM. He was also fined LE 500.
