13. Dezember 2024

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Verbreitung von Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Ägypten

Häufigkeit von FGM

Schutz vor FGM

Die folgenden Ausschnitte aus ausgewählten Quellen enthalten Informationen zu oben genannter Fragestellung (Zugriff auf alle Quellen am 13. Dezember 2024):

Verbreitung von Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Ägypten

·      Daraj: Medicalized Female Genital Mutilation: Faulty Policies, Unwilling Doctors, and Frightened Girls, 25. März 2024
https://daraj.media/en/medicalized-female-genital-mutilation-faulty-policies-unwilling-doctors-and-frightened-girls/

„Dr. Maria Armia, an OBGYN [Obstestrics and Gynecology] specialist, said that the culture and practice of FGM [Female Genital Mutilation] is still common in Egypt. […]

In many places in Egypt, people who practice it do not call it FGM, but proudly and loudly call it ‘purity’, an expression that casts an angelic shadow and wide societal acceptability on this crime. […]

In Reem’s village in the Monufia countryside in Lower Egypt, girls are still tied and forced to undergo FGM by a doctor or a nurse, but now, it happens in secret unlike before, Reem and her mother confirm.  […]

Cairo native Iman and her educated mother, who is employed at the Ministry of Health, have watched many awareness campaigns on FGM and its harms. Although the mother was a victim who suffers from the effects of being subjected to FGM, she didn’t spare her daughters the pain of the scalpel or being subjected to examination. […]

Dr. M, who refused to reveal his name in fear of lawsuits, defends performing FGM in one of Lower Egypt’s cities, by calling the procedure an excision. ‘Of course FGM harms girls, and we do not perform FGM but refinement which is useful to girls and protects them, and that’s what our prophet recommended,’ he confidently said.

The doctor believes that FGM will be performed, whether doctors accept or refuse to do it, because it is what the girls’ families want. […]

This opinion was also adopted by a nurse in the Ministry of Health, who refused to reveal her name. She usually arranges with doctors to perform FGM procedures on the girls from her city in one of Upper Egypt’s governorates. […]

Heba: It is a shame for an Upper Egyptian girl to not be ‘pure’. […]

Dr. Armia, who works in Sohag, Upper Egypt, confirms the occurrence of group FGM procedures by medical personnel, whether in her governorate or in Upper Egypt in general.“ (Daraj, 25. März 2024)

·      YW4A – Young Women for Awareness, Agency, Advocacy, and Accountability: Junge Frauen kämpfen gegen FGM in Kerdasa, Ägypten, 5. Juli 2024
https://yw4a.org/young-women-challenge-fgm-in-kerdasa-egypt/

„Im Herzen von Kerdasa, Kairo, war die Praxis der weiblichen Genitalverstümmelung (FGM) lange Zeit tief in der Gemeinschaft verwurzelt und wurde durch schädliche soziale Normen gestützt. Leider wird der Eingriff selbst in Gesundheitseinrichtungen häufig durchgeführt und von medizinischem Personal akzeptiert. Doch nun zeichnet sich ein Wandel ab.

Eine Gruppe junger Frauen, die in diesen Gesundheitseinrichtungen beschäftigt sind, nahm an der Schulung ‚RiseUp! Transformative Leadership‘ zum Thema FGM teil. Während der Schulung erfuhren sie von den schwerwiegenden körperlichen und psychischen Auswirkungen dieser schädlichen Praxis und verstanden, dass FGM lediglich ein sozialer Brauch und keine religiöse Pflicht ist. […]

Eine dieser Verfechterinnen konfrontierte ihre Schwiegermutter mit den Informationen, die sie in der FGM-Sitzung gelernt hatte. Ihre Schwiegermutter verteidigte jedoch die Bräuche und Normen und widersetzte sich Veränderungen. Dies spiegelt die Herausforderungen – und manchmal auch Risiken – wider, denen junge Frauen ausgesetzt sind, wenn sie sich gegen eine so tief verwurzelte Praxis einsetzen.“ (YW4A, 5. Juli 2024)

·      DW – Deutsche Welle: Dank der Bemühungen der Zivilgesellschaft gelingt es Ägypten, das Übel der Beschneidung zu bekämpfen [Arabisch], 6. Februar 2024
https://www.dw.com/ar/%D8%A8%D9%81%D8%B6%D9%84-%D8%AC%D9%87%D9%88%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AC%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AF%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%AC%D8%AD-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A2%D9%81%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86/a-68175867

Der Artikel der Deutschen Welle (DW) beschreibt zunächst Erfolge beim Rückgang von FGM in Ägypten. Laut der Journalistin Dina Darwish halte das Phänomen jedoch speziell in Dörfern Oberägyptens an. Laut Darwish sei FGM allgemein weiterhin weit verbreitet. Insbesondere in Oberägypten werde eine Veränderung nicht leicht akzeptiert (DW, 6. Februar 2024).

·      UNICEF – United Nations Children’s Fund: Medical Deception, 17. Dezember 2023
https://www.unicef.org/egypt/stories/medical-deception

„In the village of Al-Shamiya in Assiut [in Zentralägypten, Anmerkung ACCORD], Naja lives with a great sense of guilt towards her only daughter.

After more than 4 years, Naja was finally able to tell her story to UNICEF in order to raise awareness among other mothers about the myth of ‘medicalized Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).’ Naja says: ‘FGM is a deeply rooted tradition in our village; everyone must ‘purify’ their daughters. My mother-in-law suggested that the midwife would cut my daughter, but I disagreed and insisted on getting a doctor to do it.’“ (UNICEF, 17. Dezember 2023)

·      UNICEF – United Nations Children’s Fund: Voices of Survivors, 12. Dezember 2023
https://www.unicef.org/egypt/stories/voices-survivors

„Testimonials from girls who were subjected to the crime of FGM [Female Genital Mutilation] Medicalization in Upper Egypt. […]

About 84 per cent of FGM cases in Egypt are performed by doctors or nursing staff, putting Egypt at the top of the list of countries where FGM medicalization is common.

In June 2023, UNICEF listened to girl survivors of FGM medicalization in Upper Egypt. […]

We asked Mom: why did you do this to us? She said: all the girls go through it; you’re not the first or last.“ (UNICEF, 12. Dezember 2023)

In folgender Zusammenstellung von Herkunftsländerinformationen von ACCORD mit zwischen Jänner 2023 bis Juni 2024 veröffentlichten Quellen, finden sich folgende Informationen:

·      ACCORD – Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation: Egypt: COI Compilation, Juli 2024
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2112299/ACCORD_Egypt_July_2024.pdf

„The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) elaborates in May 2024 that FGM/C [Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting] is a widespread practice in rural areas and in Upper Egypt and expresses concern over ‘the low awareness among the public of its harmful effects on the health and wellbeing of girls’ (CRC, 30 May 2024, p. 7).“ (ACCORD, Juli 2024, S. 68)

„Similarly, the UN Human Rights Committee, while welcoming the steps taken by the government against FGM/C [Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting] under the National Plan to Eliminate Genital Mutilation, remains concerned that:

“[…] awareness-raising initiatives have not sufficiently penetrated economically and socially marginalized demographic groups and isolated rural communities and that female genital mutilation continues to be underreported and practised on a significant scale. The Committee is also concerned that response and support services are not sufficiently available, particularly at the local level […].” (UN Human Rights Committee, 14 April 2023, p. 5)” (ACCORD, Juli 2024, S. 69-70)

Häufigkeit von FGM

In folgender Zusammenstellung von Herkunftsländerinformationen von ACCORD mit zwischen Jänner 2023 bis Juni 2024 veröffentlichten Quellen, finden sich folgende Informationen:

·      ACCORD – Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation: Egypt: COI Compilation, Juli 2024
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2112299/ACCORD_Egypt_July_2024.pdf

„Freedom House notes in its 2024 report that Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) is still among the most pressing problems in Egyptian society (Freedom House, 2024, section G3; see also CAT, 12 December 2023, p. 15; CRC, 30 May 2024, p. 7). […]

According to the above-mentioned 2021 CAPMAS [Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics] Egyptian Family Health Survey (EFHS), 86 percent of ever-married women aged 15-49 surveyed had been circumcised (CAPMAS, December 2022, p. 191) compared to 92 percent in 2014 (USDOS, 23 April 2024, section 6). Half of the women surveyed in 2021 reported that they were seven to ten years old at the time of circumcision, while virtually all women were younger than 15. The survey also showed a decline in the practice, with 14 percent of daughters aged 0 to 19 having undergone the procedure in 2021 (CAPMAS, December 2022, p. 191) compared to 21 percent in 2014 (USDOS, 23 April 2024, section 6; HumanAct, October 2023, p. 5). According to the results of the 2021 EFHS, the percentage of women, who oppose FGM/C [Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting] has increased with ‘slightly more than one-quarter of women’ believing that FGM/C is a religious requirement and 3 in 10 women thinking that the practice should continue (CAPMAS, December 2022, p. 191).“ (ACCORD, Juli 2024, S. 68-69)

„Furthermore, UNICEF [United Nations Children’s Fund] notes in December 2023, that ‘Egypt still ranks first in the rates of FGM [Female Genital Mutilation] medicalization’ (UNICEF, 17 December 2023). In addition, despite the abovementioned legal amendments, sources report that medicalized FGM/C [Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting] has increased in the country (CRC, 30 May 2024, p. 7; FGM/C Research Initiative, undated). The 2021 EFHS [Egyptian Family Health Survey] found that it was much more likely for circumcision to have been performed by medical personnel among daughters (83 percent) than among the surveyed women themselves (43 percent) (CAPMAS, December 2022, p. 191).” (ACCORD, Juli 2024, S. 69)

·      DW – Deutsche Welle: Egypt struggles with female genital mutilation, 3. August 2022
https://www.dw.com/en/despite-progress-elsewhere-egypts-fgm-numbers-still-high/a-61042948

„Despite Egypt outlawing female genital mutilation and introducing punishments, a new study has found that the country is nowhere close to achieving its aim of ending FGM [Female Genital Mutilation] by 2030. […]

A new study by the Cairo-based Tadwein Center for Gender Studies has found that that 86% of underprivileged women aged 18 to 35 in Egypt, a country of more than 102 million people, have been subject to female genital mutilation (FGM), also called female genital cutting (FGC).

That is only down one percentage point from the FGM figures in Egypt's last National Health Survey, in 2014. […]

The practice is still rife despite Egypt's outlawing FGM in 2008, increasing jail sentences for practitioners and family members involved, and setting up the National Committee for the Eradication of FGM in 2019. […]

‘The second change is that daughters of circumcised women continue to be less likely to be circumcised, at around 57.4%,’ Fahmy said.

Still, those numbers reveal that almost half of the girls born in Egypt are still at risk of undergoing genital mutilation.“ (DW, 3. August 2022)

Schutz vor FGM

In folgender Zusammenstellung von Herkunftsländerinformationen von ACCORD mit zwischen Jänner 2023 bis Juni 2024 veröffentlichten Quellen, finden sich folgende Informationen:

·      ACCORD – Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation: Egypt: COI Compilation, Juli 2024
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2112299/ACCORD_Egypt_July_2024.pdf

„In its 2024 report, Freedom House identifies ‘societal resistance’ as one factor hindering the implementation of relevant laws (Freedom House, 2024, section G3). In 2021, the Penal Code Law No. 58 of 1937 was toughened regarding FGM/C [Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting] (Penal Code Law No. 58 of 1937, 21 July 1937, with amendments up to 15 August 2021, Articles 242-bis, 242bis(a); Freedom House, 2024, section G3; Reuters, 21 January 2021; CAT, 12 December 2023, p. 15; CRC, 30 May 2024, p. 7; see also Ahram Online, 26 March 2024). Law No. 10 of 2021, which amended Penal Code Law No. 58 of 1937, provides for more severe penalties regarding FGM/C (CAT, 12 December 2023, p. 15; see also HumanAct, October 2023, p. 5), including a higher minimum and maximum punishment, additional penalties for health professionals, individuals performing FGM/C and any person who incites to perform FGM/C, as well as aggravated imprisonment of between 15 to 20 years in case of the death of a girl due to FGM/C. Furthermore, references allowing ‘the use of medical justification’ to perform FGM/C were deleted (HumanAct, October 2023, p. 5; see also CRC, 30 May 2024, p. 7). The USDOS [U.S. Department of State] notes that although FGM/C is illegal in Egypt, it is a serious problem due to inconsistent reporting of incidents and inadequate law enforcement (USDOS, 23 April 2024, section 6). Freedom House in 2024 notes that, besides above-mentioned ‘societal resistance’, the ‘laws’ implementation is hindered by […] poor enforcement, police abuses, and lack of adequate protection for witnesses, all of which deter victims from contacting authorities’ (Freedom House, 2024, section G3). […]

In 2022, the Egyptian National Plan to Eliminate Genital Mutilation 2022-2026 was launched (UNFPA & UNICEF, October 2023, p. 8; HumanAct, October 2023, p. 5; CAT, 12 December 2023, p. 15). With reference to international and local observers, the USDOS notes that in 2023 steps have been taken by the government to enforce the law regarding FGM/C, ‘including maintaining hotlines to inform authorities of doctors who performed the operations’ and a public awareness campaign launched in February 2023 with the title ‘FGM is a crime’ in regions where the practice is prevalent (USDOS, 23 April 2024, section 6). HumanAct notes that the evaluation of the progress made in implementing the National Plan was hampered because the plan has not been published in a written form as of October 2023 (HumanAct, October 2023, p. 5).“ (ACCORD, Juli 2024, S. 69)

·      Daraj: Medicalized Female Genital Mutilation: Faulty Policies, Unwilling Doctors, and Frightened Girls, 25. März 2024
https://daraj.media/en/medicalized-female-genital-mutilation-faulty-policies-unwilling-doctors-and-frightened-girls/

„Twenty years after Heba was subjected to FGM [Female Genital Mutilation], the young mother with a university degree, thinks of the fate of a daughter she didn’t have yet: She hasn’t decided whether to subject her to FGM or not.

Heba fully realizes what a woman in her town would be subjected to if she refused to circumcise her daughter: ‘[The woman’s] husband and his family would object. The news would spread and people would shame [the] daughter. This is why mothers do this against their will.’ […]

Maria points out that police officers are usually from the same village and they try to settle the issue without filing a report. Doctors also fear that the family would assault them if they insisted on reporting the issue.

Everyone is pleased and girls are the only ones who pay the price. Maria believes that medical personnel who perform FGM are reassured that no one will report them as they do it at the request of the girls’ families, so they are more careful about disclosing the procedure for fear of legal accountability for both parties, and not because it no longer happens.“ (Daraj, 25. März 2024)

·      HCSR – Human and the City for Social Research: Weibliche Beschneidung in Ägypten [Arabisch], 24. September 2022
https://www.hcsr-eg.org/%D8%AE%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AB-%D9%81%D9%89-%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1/

Human and the City for Social Research (HCSR) zitiert in seinem Artikel die oben genannten Änderungen des Gesetzes von 2021. Laut HCSR sei jedoch die Meldung von Fällen von FGM selten, da es kein gesellschaftliches Bewusstsein für die Notwendigkeit einer Beendigung der Praxis gebe. FGM werde als Familienangelegenheit gesehen und aus diesem Grund nicht gemeldet (HCSR, 24. September 2022).

·      DW – Deutsche Welle: Egypt struggles with female genital mutilation, 3. August 2022
https://www.dw.com/en/despite-progress-elsewhere-egypts-fgm-numbers-still-high/a-61042948

„Eltahawy said she remembered more than one conversation with ‘women who themselves were subject to FGM [Female Genital Mutilation], who have sworn to me that they will cut their daughters despite whatever law is in place.’

This is partially motivated by perceived duties of love and care, Eltahawy said: ‘They do it to their daughters and their granddaughters because they love them, because they don't want them to be rejected or ostracized — they want them to survive.’

Eltahawy said another reason for the prevalence is that ‘FGM is part of a systemic patriarchy and systemic misogyny as it is interwoven with the obsession of keeping a girl's virginity until they get married.’

For that reason, Eltahawy said, it is not simply up to individual mothers to pledge not to permit their daughters to be subjected to FGM.

Thirty percent of respondents to the Tadwein study said they would not allow a son or hypothetical son to marry a non-circumcised woman.“ (DW, 3. August 2022)