The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) has announced it has stopped a midwife from circumcising five girls aged 10 to 15 in the village of Beni Rafei, Manfalout, Assiut, some 350km south of Cairo.
The NCCM thanked Assiut’s General Committee for Child Protection and the Prosecution-General of Assiut for their prompt action against the midwife before she could perform the crime. This was basically achieved through the National Committee for the Eradication of FGM (NCEFGM), co-chaired by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) and the National Council for Women (NCW).
Numerous cases of intended or attempted FGM are frequently reported on the Child Helpline 16000, a hotline set up by the NCCM in 2005.
In the recent case, the NCCM was notified of the intention of a midwife in Bani Rafei to circumcise five girls at a house in the village. A report was immediately filed by the NCCM to the General Committee for Child Protection in Assiut, which verified the incident and informed the Prosecutor General’s Office of the intended crime. Officials moved to the midwife’s house where they found a number of unlicensed medical tools, and seized them. She is under investigations, as well as the girls’ parents who will be facing charges.
Watani International
14 February 2022