2025 International Day Of Zero Tolerance For Female Genital Mutilation
The International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) (UN. nd) was introduced on February 6, 2003, by Stella Obasanjo, the First Lady of Nigeria and spokesperson for the Campaign Against Female Genital Mutilation, who made the official declaration on “Zero Tolerance to FGM” in Africa during a conference organized by the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC. 2025).
This post is the fully referenced version of a paper I prepared which I was pleased then to have published as an Editorial on 4 February 2025 for the International Journal of Health Promotion and Education: International day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation.
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A decade ago some estimates suggested (Zurynski et al. 2015) that at least 100 million women and girls living across the globe were survivors, or at significant risk, of FGM; this figure has now (mid-2020s) been revised upwards (UN News. 2024) to around 230 million women and girls alive today: FGM is not actually becoming proportionately more common, but the number of vulnerable girls born in FGM-practising countries is growing rapidly compared to the rest of the world. In 2024, nearly 4.4 million girls – or more than 12,000 each day (unicef. 2024) – were at risk of FGM around the world.
As at 2024, African countries accounted for over 140 million people with FGM, followed by 80 million in Asia and six million in the Middle East. (Millions more live in Europe, North America and Australia.) Nonetheless attitudes around FGM are changing: despite alarming rises in numbers of girls ‘cut’, some 400 million people in practising countries in Africa and the Middle East – two-thirds of that population – are now opposed to FGM (ChannelAfrica, 2024).
It is crucially important to recognise the enduring harm that FGM can do (WHO. 2024a) to women and girls. It is the ultimate in patriarchy incarnate (Burrage, H. 2021) – the imposition, regardless of who actually inflicts it, of (some) men’s wills on the bodies and minds of women and girls. It can impose life-long pain and infection, it frequently causes complications when giving birth, it can sometimes give rise to obstetric fistula (Vaughan, J. 2017) – resulting in monumental physical, socio-economic and personal relationship damage in communities with little medical care – or even death, both of women and girls, and of their babies.
Quite rightly, support for the brave women and indeed men who oppose FGM in their communities is a major priority in eradication. It is not easy (and may even be dangerous) to come out against a practice which has been observed for hundreds of years; which one’s grand/mother, now perhaps a ‘cutter’, will herself have experienced; which some faith leaders claim (erroneously) to be required by religious teachings; and which via early or forced marriage may bring income to the victim’s family, both as higher bride price, for ‘purity’, and as a hoped-for pension from the husband for his in-laws in their old age.
But better support for survivors and activists is not in itself enough. FGM often dramatically forestalls girls’ education, it can bring perennial ill-health (WHO. 2024b) maybe enduring trauma, it places women in dependency (they may not even be the only wife), it costs communities lower production (e.g. in areas of subsistence farming) and, in the western world, it can leave girls and women in what is in reality an underclass (Burrage, H. 2014), isolated from the wider community and effectively failed by the services of the state.
In other words, FGM is not ‘just’ a personal tragedy, it also has serious impacts for communities and, ultimately, for some nations.
The WHO has now estimated the economic costs of health care (WHO. 2020) for survivors in various countries, but this is only a part of the full financial damage. FGM is a leading cause of death in girls and young women: estimates for countries studied suggest more than 44 thousand excess deaths (Ghosh, A. et al. 2024) are attributable to FGM every year. Likewise, mothers with FGM sometimes die as a result (Okagbue, H. 2020), or may be less able to care for their small children – who in turn are less likely to thrive, and also thereby more likely to die (Chikhungu, L., et al. 2017) when that happens.
The human costs of such tragedies are immeasurable and the economic costs of lost care for children, and through ill-health lost economic production, are also hugely significant. But who is evaluating and quantifying all that? (Burrage, H., 2019) Who, a real named person, is ultimately in charge? When we all know with whom the buck finally stops, and when we know how to communicate with and feed information into his / her remit, there is a much better chance that we will finally make FGM history. The buck stops… where? (Burrage, H.. 2020a)
It is even quite possible that FGM is a factor in intergenerational child stunting (Burrage, H.. 2024a). As we know, childbirth is more perilous when a woman has FGM, and her children are thereby at greater risk of failure to thrive. It is likely that this failure will sometimes result in stunting (and other debilitation), repeated over generations of harmed girls and women. It is difficult, sometimes impossible, to ‘catch up’ (Koshy, B., et al. 2020) on stunting if the milestones of childhood are not reached. Again, alongside the human cost the economic cost is irrefutable.
It is important to acknowledge that various of these wider economic costs (Burrage, H. 2020b) are incurred wherever FGM continues, whether in ‘traditional’ communities or in modern western ones. Often following FGM, child and early ‘marriage’ (rape) (Equality Now. 2024) and FGM itself disrupt and usually end girls’ education wherever they occur (act!onaid. 2016); women’s futures are diminished and genuine adult autonomy often becomes nigh impossible. Rarely however are these cruel constraints on personal development or on socio-economic contributions to communities considered.
Put bluntly, FGM is not a ‘women’s problem’. It is a massive breach of human rights (European Commission. 2023 ), and it causes significant damage to communities wherever it occurs. No longer can this issue be ignored by policy makers and politicians, mostly men (Burrage, H. 2024b). They must now step up.
Laws must be enforced (A4ID. 2020), medicalisation must be ended (Kimani, S. et al. 2023), community activists and survivors must be properly supported (Burrage, H. 2017) , the factors underlying FGM must be addressed (poverty and economic discrimination, displacement due to climate change (Bellizzi, S., et al. 2024 ) and in conflict (e.g. reliefweb. 2024), maybe in some locations lack of water (Burrage, H. 2024c), certainly lack of education (unicef. 2022); and men, especially as policy makers, must own these issues as much as many women do.
In 2021, during COVID-19, a joint statement was published (unicef. 2021) by UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore and UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem, on the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation. They stressed that the challenge of rising numbers in an increasingly ‘young’ world (UNFPA. 2024) has now become even greater:
… Even in countries where female genital mutilation is already declining, progress needs to increase ten-fold to meet the global target of elimination by 2030. This will require some $2.4 billion over the next decade, which breaks down to less than $100 per girl. This is a very small price to pay for preserving a girl’s bodily integrity, her health and her right to say “no” to violation.
But despite all the immense long term benefits which eradicating FGM will bring, much of this focus and funding remains to be found. That is why the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM is at least as important in 2025 as it was in 2003 or 2021.
References
A4ID. 2020. Targeting the Weak Legal Frameworks Failing to Protect Women and Girls from Female Genital Mutilation. https://www.a4id.org/case-studies/targeting-weak-legal-frameworks-failing-to-protect-women-and-girls-from-fgms-at-risk/
act!onaid. 2016. The girls disappearing from school because of FGM. https://www.actionaid.org.uk/blog/voices/2016/09/01/the-girls-disappearing-from-school-because-of-fgm
Bellizzi, S., M. Darwish and S. Elnakib. 2024. “Impact of displacement due to climate change on female genital mutilations”. Journal of Travel Medicine, taae154, https://doi.org/10.1093/jtm/taae154
Burrage, H. 2014. Does Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) In Western Societies Create An Underclass? https://hilaryburrage.com/2014/04/24/does-female-genital-mutilation-fgm-in-western-societies-create-an-underclass/
Burrage, H. 2017. Ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Requires Support For Community Activists. https://hilaryburrage.com/2017/07/18/ending-female-genital-mutilation-fgm-requires-support-for-community-activists/
Burrage, H., 2019. End Female Genital Mutilation Programmes: Research And Evaluation. https://hilaryburrage.com/2019/05/25/end-female-genital-mutilation-programmes-research-and-evaluation
Burrage, H. 2021. Patriarchy Incarnate https://hilaryburrage.com/2021/07/04/patriarchy-incarnate/
Burrage, H.. 2020a. BAME Birthing With Colour: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Has Many Meanings and Contexts – And The Buck Stops… Where? https://hilaryburrage.com/2020/10/22/birthing-with-colour-female-genital-mutilation-fgm-has-many-meanings-and-contexts/
Burrage, H. 2020b. Female Genital Mutilation And Economics (An Oxford Against Cutting Seminar)
Burrage, H., 2024a. Stunted Children: A Global Tragedy. Does FGM Amplify It? https://hilaryburrage.com/2024/07/06/stunted-children-a-global-tragedy-does-fgm-amplify-it/
Burrage, H. 2024b. Men As Policy-Makers Must Support #EndFGM – Enable Women To Gain Respect As Adults Via Fair Social And Economic Contexts. https://hilaryburrage.com/2024/03/14/men-as-policy-makers-must-support-endfgm-enable-women-to-gain-respect-as-adults-via-fair-social-and-economic-contexts/
Burrage, H. 2024c. World Water Day – And Why It Matters For #EndFGM. https://hilaryburrage.com/2024/03/22/world-water-day-and-why-it-matters-for-endfgm/
ChannelAfrica. 2024. Steep rise in girls, women subjected to genital mutilation: Report. http://web.sabc.co.za/sabc/home/channelafrica/news/details?id=9d7a22c5-5c74-441f-ad2c-4af4d6254193&title=Steep%20rise%20in%20girls,%20women%20subjected%20to%20genital%20mutilation:%20Report
Chikhungu, L., M. Newell, N. Rollins. 2017. “Under-five mortality according to maternal survival: a systematic review and meta-analysis”. Bull World Health Organ. 2017 Feb 2;95(4):281–287. doi: 10.2471/BLT.15.157149
Equality Now. 2024. 5 things you need to know about child marriage. https://equalitynow.org/news_and_insights/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-child-marriage/
European Commission. 2023. International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation: Commission calls to end this crime, which violates human rights. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_23_563
Ghosh, A., H. Flowe, and J. Rockey. 2023. “Estimating excess mortality due to female genital mutilation.” Sci Rep 13, 13328 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-38276-6
IAC. 2025. Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices (IAC) https://iac-ciaf.net/about-us/
Kimani, S., H. Barrett and J. Muteshi-Strachan. 2023. “Medicalisation of female genital mutilation is a dangerous development”. BMJ 2023; 380 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p302
Koshy, B., M. Srinivasan, S. Gopalakrishnan, V.R. Mohan, R. Scharf , L. Murray-Kolb, S. John, R. Beulah, J. Muliyil and G. Kang. 2017. “Are early childhood stunting and catch-up growth associated with school age cognition?—Evidence from an Indian birth cohort” PLoS One. 2022 Mar 2;17(3):e0264010. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264010
Okagbue, H.I., A.I. Ogochukwu, V.O. Samusenkov, E.C. Erondu, and G.A. Eze. 2020. “Female life expectancy, maternal mortality, fertility and birth rates of female genital mutilation high prevalence countries”. Scientific African. Vol.10. e00647 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468227620303835
reliefweb. 2024. Key considerations: Female genital mutilation among Sudanese displaced populations in Egypt. https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/key-considerations-female-genital-mutilation-among-sudanese-displaced-populations-egypt
UN News. 2024. Over 230 million women and girls subjected to female genital mutilation: UNICEF. https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/03/1147402
UNFPA. 2024. Female genital mutilation. https://www.unfpa.org/female-genital-mutilation
unicef. 2021. 2 million additional cases of female genital mutilation likely to occur over next decade due to COVID-19. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/2-million-additional-cases-female-genital-mutilation-likely-occur-over-next-decade
unicef. 2022. The power of education to end female genital mutilation. https://data.unicef.org/resources/the-power-of-education-to-end-female-genital-mutilation/
unicef. 2024. International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation 2024. https://www.unicef.org/documents/international-day-zero-tolerance-female-genital-mutilation-2024
United Nations. nd. International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, 6 February https://www.un.org/en/observances/female-genital-mutilation-day
Vaughan, J. 2017. “Obstetric fistula; a silent death for millions of women and girls.” Thompson Reuters Foundation News. https://news.trust.org/item/20170523104025-9ctkl
World Health Organisation. 2020. The economic cost of female genital mutilation. https://www.who.int/news/item/06-02-2020-economic-cost-of-female-genital-mutilation
World Heath Organisation. 2024a. Female genital mutilation. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation
World Health Organisation. 2024b. Health Risks of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). https://www.who.int/teams/sexual-and-reproductive-health-and-research-(srh)/areas-of-work/female-genital-mutilation/health-risks-of-female-genital-mutilation
Zurynski, Y., P. Sureshkumar, A. Phu, and E. Elliott. 2015. “Female genital mutilation and cutting: a systematic literature review of health professionals’ knowledge, attitudes and clinical practice.” BMC Int Health Hum Rights 15, 32 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12914-015-0070-y
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Your Comments on this topic are welcome.
Please post them in the Reply box which follows these announcements…..
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Books by Hilary Burrage on female genital mutilation
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6684-2740
A free internet version of the book Female Mutilation is available here. It is hoped that putting these many global narrations onto the internet will enable people to read them in whatever language they choose.
Hilary has published widely and has contributed two chapters to Routledge International Handbooks:
Female Genital Mutilation and Genital Surgeries: Chapter 33,
in Routledge International Handbook of Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health (2019),
eds Jane M. Ussher, Joan C. Chrisler, Janette Perz
and
FGM Studies: Economics, Public Health, and Societal Well-Being: Chapter 12,
in The Routledge International Handbook on Harmful Cultural Practices (2023),
eds Maria Jaschok, U. H. Ruhina Jesmin, Tobe Levin von Gleichen, Comfort Momoh
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PLEASE NOTE:
The Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, which has a primary focus on FGM, is clear that in formal discourse any term other than ‘mutilation’ concedes damagingly to the cultural relativists. ‘FGM’ is therefore the term I use here – though the terms employed may of necessity vary in informal discussion with those who by tradition use alternative vocabulary. See the Feminist Statement on the Naming and Abolition of Female Genital Mutilation, The Bamako Declaration: Female Genital Mutilation Terminology and the debate about Anthr/Apologists on this website.
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This article concerns approaches to the eradication specifically of FGM. I am also categorically opposed to MGM, but that is not the focus of this particular piece, except if in any specifics as discussed above.
Anyone wishing to offer additional comment on more general considerations around male infant and juvenile genital mutilation is asked please to do so via these relevant dedicated threads.
Discussion of the general issues re M/FGM will not be published unless they are posted on these dedicated pages. Thanks.
Hilary Burrage 