Who is affected by the practice?

Today, female genital mutilation is carried out in nearly 30 African countries. Furthermore, the practice occurs in some Asian (Malaysia, Indonesia) and Arabian countries (Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kurdistan are among them).

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that between 100 and 140 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to female genital mutilation. There are an estimated 3 million girls in Africa at risk of undergoing the practice every year. They are between seven days and fourteen years old, the majority ranges from four to eight years.

Victims of Female Genital Mutilation even live in Europe, America and Australia. It is estimated that there are 30.000 mutilated women in Germany and 6.000 girls at risk within their families.

Image: Overview of prevalence within Africa
(Type 1 & 2: grey; type 1-3: black)