Female Genital Mutilation: Egyptian Teen Dies During Illegal Procedure


Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a rite of passage in many African and Middle Eastern countries where Islam is the primary religion. The practice involves removing the clitoris and sometimes other external parts of the female genitals in order to “calm” or “purify” young girls. The practice has been outlawed in many countries, including Egypt, over the last decade. Unfortunately, the fact that female genital mutilation may be illegal often doesn’t stop parents from having the unnecessary, dangerous procedure performed on their daughters, and sometimes the consequences of female genital mutilation are deadly.

On Sunday, 17-year-old Mayar Mohamed Mousa of Egypt underwent female genital mutilation surgery. Her twin sister had just had the procedure done, and now it was her turn. Unfortunately for Mayar, she didn’t survive.

The illegal procedure was performed in a private Egyptian hospital in the Suez province, says the province’s health ministry undersecretary, Dr. Lotfi Abdel-Samee. When Mayar was undergoing the female genital mutilation surgery, she was being operated on by a registered physician who placed her under full anesthesia, reports CNN.

Despite the quality of modern “healthcare” that the 17-year-old received as she was being irreparably mutilated, the procedure to needlessly remove parts of her sexual organs cost her her life.

According to an initial autopsy report, Mayar’s cause of death appears to have been blood clotting related to the female genital mutilation surgery.

Female genital mutilation was outlawed in Egypt back in 2008. Unfortunately, it is a highly traditional practice and many families believe it is necessary for their daughter’s purity. Because the “need” for female genital mutilation is such a strongly held belief in so many families, parents (even mothers who underwent the painful procedure themselves) circumvent the law to have their daughters “circumcised.”

In this instance, there are likely to be widespread repercussions for everyone involved in Mayar’s female genital mutilation procedure. Canal National Hospital, where the illegal surgery was performed, has been shut down by authorities in the wake of the 17-year-old’s death. According to reports, the hospital is currently being investigated by state prosecutors.

“We have been vigilant in monitoring for these cases and we have increased our focus. But we have not seen anything like this in recent months. This is a very dangerous and bad practice that must end.”

Unfortunately, prosecutors aren’t getting much help from the victim’s family. Mayar’s mother works as a nurse at the hospital where her daughter died. She reportedly told authorities that her daughter was at the facility for a procedure other than female genital mutilation. The only reason that her daughter’s death was brought to the attention of authorities was because a health inspector went to the hospital to probe the incident.

After evaluating the situation, he discovered that the medical staff at the hospital had been performing an illegal female genital mutilation when the girl died.

“This is part of the tragedy. May god give her the strength to overcome the passing of her daughter but this is another issue. Parents won’t acknowledge or admit this is happening. But it did happen.”

According to the United Nations, there is “no moral, religious or health reason” to mutilate or cut any female.

Female genital mutilation has absolutely no positive benefits to victims of the procedure. On the contrary, the U.N. says that it is responsible for causing life-long emotional and physical trauma to the millions of women forced to undergo female genital mutilation annually. Even so, the Egyptian government can’t seem to get the message across to parents and religious leaders that the practice has to stop.

“All state institutions must be involved in erasing this hideous practice from the community’s memory. The role of all institutions including religious institutions in raising awareness is important.”

In January of 2015, a doctor was sentenced for the death of a 13-year-old who died following a female genital mutilation procedure that he’d performed. As the BBC reports, the young girl was forced by her father to undergo female genital mutilation surgery and ultimately died from the procedure. Both the girl’s father and the doctor denied the charges and were initially acquitted in her death, but an appeals court overturned the acquittals and the doctor was sentenced to two years in prison for manslaughter. The girl’s father only received a three month sentence, and that was suspended.

The sentence was the first of its kind in Egypt.

Experts say that criminalizing female genital mutilation in Egypt isn’t enough; enforcement of the anti-female genital mutilation law is incredibly difficult, and because the acceptance of the barbaric practice is so widely accepted in many communities, it’s difficult to make a dent in the problem.

Upon hearing the news of Mayar Mohamed Mousa’s female genital mutilation-related death, the world reacted with outrage and condemnation of the senseless practice.

Some even took the opportunity to compare female genital mutilation to male circumcision, which many believe is equally barbaric and needless.

What do you think? Is it possible to put an end to the practice of FGM? Should punishments be harsher for those who encourage and perform it? Do the people who compare female genital mutilation with the Western practice of male circumcision have point?

[Photo by Graeme Robertson/Getty Images]

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