Girl, 12, dies after undergoing female genital mutilation in Egypt

A 12-year-old girl has died in Egypt after her parents took her to a doctor who performed female genital mutilation.

The schoolgirl died in the province of Assiut, the public prosecutor said on Thursday.

Authorities have now ordered order the arrests of her parents and the physician who performed the procedure, also known as female circumcision.

Since the mid-1990s, Egypt has been battling the centuries-old practice, which is misguidedly believed to control women’s sexuality.

In 2008, a law banning the cutting of female genitalia was passed in parliament despite strong opposition from conservative voices.

A 2015 government survey found that 87% of Egyptian women and girls aged between 15 and 49 have been circumcised.

Amel Fahmy, managing director of Tadwein Gender Research Centre, said: ‘Many more Egyptian girls will be forced to undergo the procedure, and many of them will die – as long as there is no clear strategy from the state and a true criminalisation of the practice.’

In 2016, legislators adopted amendments to the law, redefining FGM from a misdemeanour, for which offenders typically receive up to two years in prison, to a felony, which draws tougher sentences and punishments.

However, women’s rights advocates argue the law still contains loopholes.

According to Reda el-Danbouki, a human rights lawyer, the penal code criminalises the cutting of female genital organs only in cases where ‘there is no medical justification’.

He added: ‘This clause opens the door to parents as well as physicians to claim that they were not conducting female circumcision but simply removing allegedly discomforting skin growth.’

In recent years, cases where girls bled to death after the procedure have made newspaper headlines in Egypt.

In December 2016, a criminal court sentenced two doctors and the mother of a 17-year-old girl who died after FGM to a one-year suspended sentence, a verdict that drew sharp criticism from activists.

‘Judges themselves are not convinced that female circumcision is a crime that should be punished,” said Mr Danbouki, who runs the Women’s Centre for Guidance and Legal Awareness.

‘Judges are lenient when it comes to cases entailing violence against women.’