Female genital mutilation (FGM), aka female circumcision, is on the rise in Nigeria especially among girls aged below 15 years, the United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said.
UNICEF’s Representative in Nigeria, Peter Hawkins, in a statement on Sunday, February 6, said the rates of FGM have risen from 16.9 per cent in 2013 to 19.2 per cent in 2018.
According to him, “Female genital mutilation (FGM) remains widespread in Nigeria. With an estimated 19.9 million survivors, Nigeria accounts for the third highest number of women and girls who have undergone FGM worldwide.
While the national prevalence of FGM among women in Nigeria aged 15-49 dropped from 25 per cent in 2013 to 20 per cent in 2018, prevalence among girls aged 0-14 increased from 16.9 per cent to 19.2 per cent in the same period, according to NDHS figures. .
An estimated 86 percent of females were cut before the age of five, while eight per cent were cut between ages five and 14. FGM is deeply harmful to girls and women, both physically and psychologically. It is a practice that has no place in our society today and must be ended, as many Nigerian communities have already pledged to do.”
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