Female Genital Mutilation in Egypt

Did you know that 96 percent of women in Egypt have undergone female “circumcision,” more accurately called female genital mutilation? Yeah, neither did I. This New York Times article paints a pretty grim picture of the pervasiveness of FGM in Egypt, where a 13 year-old died recently from the procedure in a doctor’s office.
Luckily, there’s a nationwide campaign in place to stop the practice–but whether or not it’s making a change on the ground remains unclear.

But now, quite suddenly, forces opposing genital cutting in Egypt are pressing back as never before. More than a century after the first efforts to curb this custom, the movement has broken through one of the main barriers to change: It is no longer considered taboo to discuss it in public. That shift seems to have coincided with a small but growing acceptance of talking about human sexuality on television and radio.
For the first time, opponents said, television news shows and newspapers have aggressively reported details of botched operations. This summer two young girls died, and it was front-page news in Al Masry al Yom, an independent and popular daily. Activists highlighted the deaths with public demonstrations, which generated even more coverage.

Progress, to be sure. But not nearly enough.
Really, make sure to read the whole article. While depressing, there are some heartening stories of the work being done to battle FGM.