![FGM Egypt [AFP]](https://www.newarab.com/sites/default/files/media/images/A0E58193-AD1D-44B8-888F-0A8272B4DE37.jpg "FGM Egypt [AFP]")
Doctors in Egypt campaign against female genital mutilation after young girl's death
Doctors in Egypt campaign against female genital mutilation after young girl's death
A group of Egyptian doctors campaigned against FGM outside a Cairo metro station after last month's death of a 12-year-old girl by the procedure.
2 min read
The United Nations considers Egypt a "high prevalence country" for FGM [AFP]
Doctors in Egypt campaigned against female genital mutilation after the death of a 12-year-old girl by the procedure, according to a Tuesday report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Outside a Cairo metro station, a group of doctors placed posters with slogans such as "No to FGM" and "FGM is a crime" and passed out leaflets about the dangers of the controversial practice.
The campaign is named White Coats, referring to lab coats worn by medical professionals.
Gynecologist Randa Fakhr El-Deen, head of the NGOs' Union Against Harmful Practices on Women and Children, told the TR Foundation that the doctors partaking in the campaign seek to convey to colleagues and citizens alike that they do not want their white coats to be "stained with blood".
Though the doctors were approached by supporters of FGM at the station, the White Coats campaign nevertheless managed to get its message out.
"Some ultraconservatives were not convinced of what we were saying, but we opened a discussion with them, responded to their arguments and answered all their questions," said El-Deen.
According to UNICEF data from 2015, approximately 87 percent of women and girls between 15 and 49 years have undergone FGM in Egypt.
Egypt is considered to be a "high prevalence country" for the practice.
Last month, a 12-year-old girl named Nada Hassan Abdel-Maqsoud bled to death in southern Egypt after her family brought her to a private clinic to undergo genital cutting.
The doctor performed the procedure without anaesthesia, a nurse's presence, or surgery qualifications. The girl's parents, uncle and aunt were arrested, as was the doctor.
The doctor was released on bail for 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($3,000) last week.
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Outside a Cairo metro station, a group of doctors placed posters with slogans such as "No to FGM" and "FGM is a crime" and passed out leaflets about the dangers of the controversial practice.
The campaign is named White Coats, referring to lab coats worn by medical professionals.
Gynecologist Randa Fakhr El-Deen, head of the NGOs' Union Against Harmful Practices on Women and Children, told the TR Foundation that the doctors partaking in the campaign seek to convey to colleagues and citizens alike that they do not want their white coats to be "stained with blood".
Though the doctors were approached by supporters of FGM at the station, the White Coats campaign nevertheless managed to get its message out.
"Some ultraconservatives were not convinced of what we were saying, but we opened a discussion with them, responded to their arguments and answered all their questions," said El-Deen.
According to UNICEF data from 2015, approximately 87 percent of women and girls between 15 and 49 years have undergone FGM in Egypt.
Egypt is considered to be a "high prevalence country" for the practice.
Last month, a 12-year-old girl named Nada Hassan Abdel-Maqsoud bled to death in southern Egypt after her family brought her to a private clinic to undergo genital cutting.
The doctor performed the procedure without anaesthesia, a nurse's presence, or surgery qualifications. The girl's parents, uncle and aunt were arrested, as was the doctor.
The doctor was released on bail for 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($3,000) last week.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay connected.
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