Fgm - Blog Posts

Here's an FGM survivor's response to that girl on TikTok who claimed "people focus on FGM so much because they want to tie women's oppression to genitalia so they can exclude transwomen."

FGM means female genitalia mutilation, and it’s supposedly meant to prevent rape of young girls…

The prevalence of FGM among women aged 15–49 in Somalia is 99.2%.

72% of women believe that FGM is a requirement of their religion.

Geography

Prevalence is marginally higher among nomadic populations (99.7%), but universally high in all locations

Age

Most girls are cut between the ages of 10 and 14

Type

Most women have undergone Type III FGM/C (infibulation/‘sewn closed’), which is also known as Pharaonic FGM/C

Agent

Predominantly traditional practitioners, but medicalised FGM/C is on the rise

Distribution of FGM/C across Somalia

In 2006, prevalence in the South/Central Zone was 99.2% and in 2011 in the North-East Zone (Puntland) it was 98% (women aged 15–49). There is no geographical breakdown available for the prevalence in 2020.

Across both Somalia and Somaliland, women who live in rural areas are only slightly more likely to undergo FGM/C than those who live in urban areas. The prevalence is highest among nomadic women, but is universally high (over 98%) among women living in all areas.

76.4% of women believe that FGM/C should continue and 18.9% believe that it should not.

While support for Type III (Pharaonic) FGM/C has declined in recent years, other types of FGM referred to as ‘Sunni’ remain popular. More than four in five women in the oldest age group experienced Pharaonic cutting, compared to less than half of women in the youngest age group.

(Information sited from https://www.fgmcri.org/country/somalia/)