IHPE Position Statement: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

The Institute of Health Promotion and Education (IHPE), of which I am a Trustee, has just published a new Position Statement on Female Genital Mutilation.
As lead author of that Statement on FGM, I was keen to ensure that it encompasses emerging thinking on this difficult subject, and that it also acknowledges the criticality of a Public Health perspective in addressing the complex and often variable issues.

Below is a link to the full, formal Position Statement, together with references and further links to important information about FGM and various ideas and indicators concerning how its eradication is now being approached.

You can read this website in the language of your choice via Google Translate.

The full 2025 IHPE Position Statement on FGM is available as a formal pdf

on the IHPE website  here.

 

And below is the text of that Statement (translatable as above):

IHPE Position Statement: Female genital mutilation (FGM)

.

KEY INFORMATION

Background
• Female genital mutilation comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. (World Health Organisation).

• FGM is also referred to as ‘female genital cutting’ (FGC) or ‘female circumcision’.

• FGM is classified into 4 major types. All are seriously harmful.

• FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and adolescence, though it may be performed at any age.

• FGM is child abuse; the practice is illegal in the UK and most other parts of the world.

• Violence against women and girls is a very complex and embedded issue.

Incidence
• More than 230 million girls and women alive today have been ‘cut’.

• FGM has been recorded in almost 100 countries.

• Rates of FGM globally are reducing, but increasing numbers of young people in affected locations mean that the absolute number of women and girls with FGM continues to grow.

• Within the UK there are approximately 137,000 women living with the consequences of FGM.

Health impacts
• FGM has no health benefits.

• FGM causes a variety of severe short and long term health problems, such as severe bleeding and difficulties urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth.

• Babies born to mothers with FGM are at significantly higher risk of morbidity and mortality.

• FGM also causes significant psychological illness including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and low self-esteem.

• Every twelve minutes a girl dies somewhere in the world directly as a result of FGM.

Community and economic aspects
• There is a close correlation between FGM and child ‘marriage’.

• FGM often signifies the end of a girl’s education – with all the personal and community impacts that deprivation entails.

• FGM is an embedded part of some local economies. E.g. financial transactions prior to marriage.

• FGM can be the cause of marriage break up, with severe consequences for both the wife and her children.

• Ill-health preventing women working effectively has financial consequences for families and the community.

• FGM is often associated with significant disadvantage, such as the challenges of subsistence farming, lack of legal ownership of land and difficulties in accessing resources such as clean water.

Eradication
• FGM is a globally significant public health challenge with many complex and inter-connected aspects.

• International organisations, governments and charities have vital roles to play.

• The influence of men is critical in eradicating the abuse of FGM. This includes at the level of families and communities, and at the level of politics, wider public policy and development.

• The United Nations and associated organisations have declared their intention that FGM be eradicated by 2030 – an ambitious objective.

• Politicians and policy makers can enable many facilitating factors empowering women to lead independent lives, accorded respect for their adult status, and be free from FGM.

.

STATEMENT

1.IHPE believes that FGM is a severe human rights violation and should be a matter of public health concern wherever it occurs.

2.FGM is a global concern and action is needed in many countries including high-income ones.

3.All nations must seek urgently to eradicate FGM, working with national institutions and with international agencies such as the WHO, UNFPA and UNICEF.

4.Interventions intended to eliminate the practice of FGM should be based on engagement with those traditional or ethnic groups who practise it.

5.IHPE is committed to ensuring that public and professional awareness of issues around FGM and other violence against women and girls remain at the forefront of health policy and practice.

6.Further monitoring and research are needed including: about the reasons for and consequences of FGM; why key individuals carry out the procedures; and, how FGM can be eliminated in different contexts.

7.Men from different parts of society should be encouraged to take part and at times lead the eradication of FGM.

8.Different public health approaches are essential including educational, legal and health. It is crucial that appropriate resources are made available so that the approaches can be effective.

9.It is vital that localities and jurisdictions have a named person who carries responsibility for the eradication of FGM. This person will coordinate the delivery of services and also report on progress to those ultimately responsible for overall eradication.

10.It is also important that locations have an emergency reference point for seeking help if FGM is threatened or has occurred. This should be publicised to professionals and members of the public.

11.Interventions should be instigated to meet the physical, mental and social needs of women and girls who have undergone FGM.

12.‘Survivors’ and activists who work in their communities to end FGM should be supported. They must be heard, enabled, appropriately financed, respected and personally protected.

13.FGM should be included as one important element of Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) programmes in all schools.

14.There is a need for increased training and education for certain professional groups including health and education staff, in identifying girls and women who are at risk and supporting those who have undergone FGM.

15.It is crucial that wider entrenched inequalities between women and men are addressed. This includes education, availability of safe clean water and issues around displacement and conflict.

16.There needs to be increasing advocacy for this important public health issue at local, national and international levels.

Authors:
Professor Hilary Burrage,
Dr Michael C. Watson,
Institute of Health Promotion and Education
(https://ihpe.org.uk)
24th October 2025

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A more detailed weblinked post on aspects of current FGM demography, epidemiology and eradication is here:
What We Know About Female Genital Mutilation – A Summary (2025) Of The Many And Complex Aspects 
This post will be updated as necessary, as may the references and resources below.

This post and all those below can be read in the language of your choice via Google Translate (link offered in each piece).

.

Here also are some papers / posts I wrote in quite recently.  They identify newer issues and examine some ways (my ) perceptions around eradicating FGM have developed over the past few years.  I hope they will be helpful:

CSW69 FGM Panel: Segmenting The #EndFGM Message For Greater Impact – Climate Change, Conflict Displacement, Water, Child Stunting; And Powerful Men

Stunted Children: A Global Tragedy. Does FGM Amplify It?

Ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) – Who’s In Charge? And The Buck Stops… Where?

Female Genital Mutilation And Economics

The Route To End FGM: Moving From ‘Multi-Agency’ Via Multi-Disciplinary To Public Health And Economics

The Many ‘E’s Of FGM Eradication – And Why They All Lead Via ‘Economics’ And ‘Epidemics’ To Public Health

Patriarchy Incarnate

and, if you like, these four linked posts:

Eradicating Female Genital Mutilation: Identifying Tensions And Challenges (February 6 – Zero Toleration to FGM Day)

Eradicating  Female Genital Mutilation: Looking At Practical And Low-Tech Ways Forward (March 8 – International Women’s Day)

Men As Policy-Makers Must Support #EndFGM – Enable Women To Gain Respect As Adults Via Fair Social And Economic Contexts (14 March – Commission on the Status of Women, CSW68)

World Water Day – And Why It Matters For #EndFGM (March 22 – World Water Day)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES
(to explain further / extend / elaborate issues raised in the Position Statement above)

AHA Foundation. State by State and DC Fact Sheets.
https://www.theahafoundation.org/state-by-state-and-d-c-fact-sheets

Ahmed, Wisal et al.   12 June 2023.  “Lessons learnt in scaling up evidence-based comprehensive health sector responses addressing female genital mutilation in highly prevalent settings”.  British Medical Journal Global Health.
https://gh.bmj.com/content/8/6/e012270  (open access)

Barrett, H., Brown, K., Alhassan, Y. et al. 2020. “Transforming social norms to end FGM in the EU: an evaluation of the REPLACE Approach”. Reproductive Health 17, 40.
https://reproductive-healthjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12978-020-0879-2

Burrage, H. What We Know About Female Genital Mutilation – A Summary (2025) Of The Many And Complex Aspects.
https://hilaryburrage.com/2025/09/01/what-we-know-about-female-genitalmutilation-2025/

Burrage, H. 2025. “International day of zero tolerance for female genital mutilation.” International Journal of Health Promotion and Education, 63(2), 65–66.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14635240.2025.2463175

Burrage, H. 2023.  “FGM Studies: Economics, Public Health, and Societal Well-Being”. The Routledge International Handbook of Harmful Cultural Practices.  Jaschok, M. et al  (eds.)  London: Routledge
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003316701-25/fgm-studies-hilary-burrage

Burrage, H. 2019. “Female Genital Mutilation and Genital Surgeries”.
Routledge International Handbook of Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health. Ussher, J. et al (eds.) London: Routledge
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781351035620-34/female-genital-mutilation-genital-surgeries-hilary-burrage

Burrage, H. 2016. Female Mutilation. Totnes: New Holland Publishers.
[Also available free online https://femalemutilationworldwide.com/%5D

Burrage, H. 2015. Eradicating Female Genital Mutilation: A UK Perspective.  Ashgate: Routledge.
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315256177/eradicating-female-genital-mutilation-hilary-burrage

Cordova-Pozo, Kathya et al.  15 April 2024.  “Female genital mutilation: trends, economic burden of delay and basis for public health interventions.”  International Journal for Equity in Health
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38622689/

End FGM E-Campus. Welcome to the End FGM E-Campus.
https://endfgm-ecampus.eu/

The End FGM European Network. Who we are.
https://www.endfgm.eu/who-we-are/

Erikson, A. and Majumdar, S. 2025. “Beyond Backlash: Advancing Movements to End Violence against Women; Insights from Grantee Partners of the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women”. UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women: New York.
.https://untf.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2025-03/untf_backlash_paper_v4_final.pdf

FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics). 30 September 2025.  FIGO Statement: Do no harm: Joint statement against the medicalization of female genital mutilation in Asia-Pacific – A call to action.
https://www.figo.org/resources/figo-statements/do-no-harm-joint-statement-against-medicalization-FGM

FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics). 10 September 2025. FIGO Statement: Ending Female Genital Mutilation: a global call to action from FIGO.
https://www.figo.org/figo-statements/ending-female-genital-mutilation-global-call-action-figo

Forward. Get Help- Support services. UK.
https://www.forwarduk.org.uk/how-we-work-for-women-and-girls/supportservices/

Global Media Campaign to End FGM.
.globalmediacampaign.org/.

House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee.  17 October 2025. WEC welcomes Government’s action on FGM reconstructive surgery recommendation.
https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/328/women-and-equalities-committee/news/209672/wec-welcomes-governments-action-on-fgm-reconstructive-surgery-recommendation

House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee.  12 September 2025. Female genital mutilation. Seventh Report of Session 2024–25 HC 714.
https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/49487/documents/263461/default/

Jaschok M, Jesmin U, von Gleichen T, Momoh C. (Editors). 2023. The Routledge International Handbook of Harmful Cultural Practices. London: Routledge.
https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-International-Handbook-of-Harmful-Cultural-Practices/Jaschok-Jesmin-vonGleichen-Momoh/p/book/9781032327563

Men Against FGM Foundation
https://menendfgm.org/about-us

NHS England. Digital. Female Genital Mutilation, January – March 2024.
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/femalegenital-mutilation/january—march-2024

Odonkor, Stephen T. and Yeboah, Theodora N.  February 2023.   “Challenges of rural women living with obstetric fistula: A phenomenological study”.  Science Direct, Vol.36, Issue 1.  pp.e-1 to 1-9.  
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871519222000518

Tordrup, David et al.  February 2022  “Economic burden of female genital mutilation in 27 high-prevalence countries.”  BMJ Global Health
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35105556/

UNICEF. Female genital mutilation (FGM) data.
https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/female-genital-mutilation/

UNICEF. What is female genital mutilation? Everything you need to know about FGM and what UNICEF is doing to stop it.
https://www.unicef.org/protection/female-genital-mutilation

The United Nations Population Fund. Female genital mutilation (FGM) frequently asked questions.
https://www.unfpa.org/resources/female-genital-mutilation-fgm-frequentlyasked-questions

Watson, M. C. 2017. IHPE Position Statement: FGM (December 2017). Welwyn, Institute of Health Promotion and Education.
{Now updated}

Click to access Postion-statement-FGMDec-2017.pdf

World Health Organisation.  25 April 2025.   WHO guideline on the prevention of female genital mutilation and clinical management of complications.
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240107281

World Health Organisation. WHO issues new recommendations to end the rise in “medicalized” female genital mutilation and support survivors.
https://www.who.int/news/item/28-04-2025-who-issues-newrecommendations-to-end-the-rise-in–medicalized–female-genital-mutilationand-support-survivors

World Health Organisation. Female genital mutilation. Key facts.
https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital mutilation

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Do you have information and ideas to share about how FGM eradication can move forward?  

If so, please tell us all via the Comments box below.  Thank you.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Books by Hilary Burrage on female genital mutilation

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6684-2740

Eradicating Female Genital Mutilation: A UK Perspective
Ashgate / Routledge (2015)  Reviews

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

~ ~ ~

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.

~ ~ ~

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.