A DECLARATION FROM EGYPTIAN GYNECOLOGISTS EMPHASIZING REFUSAL OF FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION / CUTTING (FGM/C)

6 September 2012

We, Gynecologists representing members of The Egyptian Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Egyptian Universities, Ministry of Health and Population Hospitals, Teaching Hospitals, Military and Police Hospitals issue this declaration as an expression of Gynecologists’ responsibility towards the physical and psychological health of Egyptian women, particularly in the wake of the recent convocation to perform Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting and to repeal the law prohibiting it and criminalizing practitioners who perform it.  That law was passed after exhaustive efforts over many years, supported by the Ministry of Health and Population and civil society, and was an important step towards creating a conducive environment for elimination of FGM/C. Our responsibility, as Gynecologists, increases as media outlets have reported the organization of campaigns in some villages to have this criminalized act performed by medical practitioners.

We reassert the statement issued by The Egyptian Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics that Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting is not among the medical practices included in the curricula of medical schools and is not included in the training programs of physicians except for citing its drawbacks and recommending that it should never be performed. Consequently, the criminal law does not include protection for physicians who perform this procedure.

We also emphasize that there are no medical, health or behavioral benefits gained from Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting ; quite the opposite, it leads to complications that adversely affect the psychological and sexual health of women that may persist throughout their life. In addition, medical complications may occur during its performance and subsequently to the fetus during labor according to studies conducted by The World Health Organization.

We also recall and reaffirm the declaration issued by the General Assembly of the World Federation of Gynecological and Obstetric Societies in the year 1994 that requests Gynecological and Obstetric Societies worldwide to urge their governments to support efforts aimed at prevention of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting. The declaration also advises Gynecologists to explain its immediate and long-term dangers to legislators, policy and decision makers, community leaders and teachers. The World Federation also urges member societies to oppose any attempts to perform this procedure in medical establishments or by medical professionals.

We also refer to the declarations issued by the World Health Organization, United Nations and other International Organizations that list the medical complications of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting on the short and long run and urge the International Community to eliminate its performance.

We urge all Egyptian physicians from different specializations and all medical professionals to inform citizens and explain the dangers of FGM/C. We also strongly encourage The Ministry of Health and Population and The Egyptian medical Syndicate to put into effect The Ministerial Decree number 271 for the year 2007 that states “Physicians, nursing staff and others should never perform any cutting, leveling or modification of any normal anatomical part of the female genital organs in governmental or non-governmental hospitals or any other place. Anyone who performs this operation is violating the laws and bylaws that regulate practicing the medical profession”.  

Finally, we request strict implementation of article number 242 (bis) of the Egyptian criminal law that states “ Without breaching any more severe punishment expressed in any other law, anyone who inflicts the wound penalized in articles 231 and 241 of the criminal law by performing Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting is to be punished by imprisonment for a period not less than three months and does not exceed two years or by a fine not less than one thousand and not more than five thousands Egyptian pounds”