Over 200m girls, women experience FGM – UNFPA

Ms Ulla Mueller, the Country Representative, UN Population Fund (UNFPA), on Saturday, said over 200 million girls and women had experienced Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) globally.

She made this known in a statement issued by Mrs Kori Habib, the UNFPA Media Associate in Abuja, in commemoration of the World Zero Tolerance Day for FGM.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the day is annually marked on Feb. 6 around the globe to raise awareness on the ills of the practice and challenges faced by survivors, with a view to ending it.

The world observance day has “No Time for Global Inaction: Unite, Fund and Act to End Female Genital Mutilation” as its theme for 2021.

FGM involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons and it has four types.

ype 1 is the partial or total removal of the glans clitoris (the external and visible part of the clitoris, which is a sensitive part of the female genitals) and or the prepuce/ clitoral hood (the fold of skin surrounding the clitoris).

Type 2 is the partial or total removal of the glans clitoris and the labia minora (the inner folds of the vulva) with or without removal of the labia majora (the outer folds of skin of the vulva).

Type 3, also known as infibulation, is the narrowing of the vaginal opening through the creation of a covering seal, where the seal is formed by cutting and repositioning the labia minora, or labia majora.