Cairo, Feb 22, 2020 – Egypt’s state prosecutor decided to re-arrest and put on trial a doctor for performing a genital mutilation operation on a 12-year-old girl who died, his office said Saturday. The procedure known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been banned in Egypt since 2008, but the practice remains rife in the conservative Muslim country with many believing it promotes women’s chastity. The prosecutor ordered the doctor, Abdel Fadeel Reshwan, to stand trial for FGM that led to the death of the 12-year-old girl. Since 2016, doctors found guilty of performing FGM in Egypt can face between five and seven years in jail. UNICEF stressed that FGM was “a human rights violation and constitutes a form of violence against women and girls”.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 22, 2020 19:41 UTC