According to a new report released by the United Nations, at least 97% of women and girls in Guinea have suffered female genital mutilation (FGM). Guinean law forbids FGM and the government has launched awareness campaigns to discourage the practice, but neither action appears to have had any effect on the extreme social pressure for girls to undergo FGM in Guinea. Instead, the report found that girls are subjected to FGM at younger and younger ages, with a large majority of women in their early twenties having undergone FGM before the age of ten. Additionally, in contrast to many other parts of the world where support for the practice of FGM is in decline, support for FGM is on the rise in Guinea, particularly among women. The practice is rarely punished or prosecuted, and even when law enforcement or the judiciary attempts to intervene, they face heavy backlash from communities.
Compiled from: Female Genital Mutilation in Guinea on the rise – Zeid, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, News (April 25, 2016).