An NGO alliance has held a series of workshops at universities in Egypt to raise awareness about female genital mutilation (FGM) and violence against children.
The Union Against Harmful Practices on Women & Children said it has held workshops at universities across Egypt tackling issues from medical and religious perspectives.
Union head Randa Fakhr Eddin said the workshops will continue into the next week.
“Egypt is among the countries with the highest FGM rates..It is a religiously prohibited custom according to an edict by Dar al-Iftaa made in 2007,” Fakhr Eddin stated.
“The Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs had also made a statement clarifying it has no basis in Islamic Sharia,” she added.
The government is also gearing up efforts to combat the surgery. Health Minister Ahmed Emad Eddine announced earlier this month that the ministry will launch an initiative called “Doctors against FGM” to crystalize the vision among doctors to reject the circumcision surgery.
Egypt's 2015 health survey revealed that 9 in 10 women aged between 15-49 have experienced female genital cutting, which defies an official ban of the surgeries traditionally sought by girls' parents with a belief that it enhances sexual health.
In January 2015, a doctor was sentenced to two years for the fatal circumcision of 13-year-old Soheir al-Batea.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
