Egypt on Thursday finally banned all female circumcision, the widely practised removal of the clitoris that just days ago cost the life of a 12-year-old girl.
Officially the practice — which affects both Muslim and Christian women in Egypt and goes back to the time of the pharaohs — 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, a ministry press official said.
Any circumcision ”will be viewed as a violation of the law and all contraventions will be punished”, said the official, adding that it is a ”permanent ban”.
A survey in 2000 said the practice was carried out on 97% of the country’s women.
In the latest fatality, 12-year-old Bedur Ahmed Shaker was taken by her mother to a private clinic in Minya, a town on the Nile south of Cairo, for the operation. She died before she could be transferred to hospital.
Her mother accused the woman doctor of negligence, charging that her daughter’s death was linked to the anaesthetic and not the removal of the clitoris. Police have arrested both women. — Sapa-AFP