ABSTRACT: Firm condemnation of the practice of infibulation, which "concerns some 80 million women from different countries, prevalently in sub-Saharan Africa, of Islamic or other culture". The article lists the countries where the practice is used and the dangers for the women who are subjected to it.

(1994 - IL QUOTIDIANO RADICALE, 28 October 1993)

The practice of infibulation currently concerns some 80 million women from different countries, prevalently from sub-Saharan Africa, of Islamic or other cultures.

The religious grounds underlying this practice are fiercely supported by many women who have suffered it, and despite there is no precept relative to it in the Koran, many women consider it a shame for their daughters not to be infibulated.

Infibulation entails serious health consequences such as sterility, complications during delivery and, in certain cases, may result in death.

Also, there is a high risk of contracting various infections, including HIV, let alone serious psychological traumas. In Africa infibulation is practiced in over twenty countries, precisely the ones (with the exception of Egypt) where child mortality is rather high.

Namely, it is a normal practice in Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia (Red Sea coast), Southern Egypt, Northern Kenya, Northern Nigeria and several parts of Mali.

One emblematic case is Sudan, where, despite the repressive measures, 90% of women have suffered infibulation. But the situation in Sudan is similar to that of other orthodox Islamic countries of Africa, where no less than 80% of women have been infibulated: Oman, Yemen, Arab Emirates and, in the Far East, Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Pakistan. Its diffusion among the Islamic countries that have migrated to Europe and the United States has lead the governments of Sweden, Belgium, Great Britain and some American states to forbid the practise.