The United Nations (UN) observes February 6 as the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and aims to fully eliminate the practice by 2030.
According to the UN, FGM “comprises all procedures that involve altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons and is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights.”
The UN estimates that as of March 2024, 230 million women and girls alive have been subjected to FGM, also known as female circumcision. “Over 2 million girls annually undergo the practice before their fifth birthday, often during the first days or weeks of their lives,” the report says.
By region, occurrences of FGM are most prevalent in Africa, with the UN’s estimates going over 114 million. While over 6 million women and girls have been subjected to the practice in the Middle East, there are over 80 million cases of FGM in the rest of Asia.
FGM in the Philippines
Data on occurrences of FGM in the Philippines is hard to come by, according to Orchid Project, a UK and Kenya-based non-governmental organization that aims to end the controversial practice. Comprehensive national data on the practice is currently unavailable.
But Orchid Project’s July 2024 report and research from 2020 by Mindanao State University’s Professor Aminoding Limpao suggest that it is most prevalent in the Bangsamoro region, where around 80 percent of women and girls have reportedly undergone FGM.
According to Limpao, mutilation or “circumcision” procedures vary for every community. “Some use bamboo strips, blades, nail cutters, needles. Some use a small knife, some use cotton. Some use scraping, some use poking,” he said.
A GMA News report notes that the cutting procedure lasts less than a minute. Nanay Embong Ballaho, a Yakan panday or traditional healer, tells GMA News, “Natakot lang sila kapag makita nila ang kutsilyo, ayun iiyak talaga pero kapag magawa na, wala na.”
Limpao’s co-researcher Shalom Tilliah Allian said that the mutilation or cutting is generally referred to as “pag-Islam” or “pag-sunnat” and is usually performed before a girl’s first menstrual period.
Nanay Embong confirmed the practice as a rite of passage, saying, “Sa Muslim, kapag hindi makagawa ng ganiyan, ituli ang mga kababaihan, hindi pwede ‘yan dapat na tawagin na Muslim.”
However, other Muslim scholars argue that the Quran does not mandate the practice of mutilating or cutting a girl’s genitals. Ustad Mohammad Atal, a scholar from Lamitan, told GMA News, “Wala yan sa loob ng Qur-an, wala. Dahil kung galing yan sa Quran, tinatawag nila na wajib or fardhu. ‘Yong fardhu means it is necessary. Pag hindi mo ginawa, may punishment galing sa Allah. Pero yung [pag-islam], hindi [fardhu].”
While the procedure may be quick, Limpao noted that there have been cases of girls running away out of fear, or being restrained. He said, “The procedure puts the girls and women in a risky situation wherein there is the possibility of physical and psychological harm.”
Laws like the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004 and the Bangsamoro-specific fatwas or Islamic rulings on gender-based violence serve to protect women and children from more common forms of violence. But the UN believes that legislation criminalizing FGM is crucial to its full elimination — a challenge to achieve considering the cultural underpinnings of the practice.
