We know that at present, children in some parts of the world are getting a pretty raw deal. However, there is one threat that girls need to be protected from in every country and that is FGM (Female Genital Mutilation).
FGM is where partial, or all of the external female genitalia is removed, in most cases by a non-medical practitioner and in a non-sterile environment. No, there are no sterile instruments, or anaesthetic involved and the scalpels are replaced by scissors, razors and broken glass.
130 million women and girls have been mutilated in this way, in 29 countries in Africa and the Middle-East, with a further 30 million of under 15 year olds still at risk. In the UK and USA we can't bury our heads in the sand and pretend it doesn't happen on our soil, because in the UK, 103,000, are known to have undergone FGM; with a further, 20,000, classed as being at risk. In the USA, 1/2 million are also said to be at risk, even although this practise as in the UK, is illegal.
By 2050 it is estimated that if we do not stamp this barbaric practise out, a further 63 million girls worldwide will have had to go through this ordeal. On the 6th February 2015 it was, International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, but the zero tolerance has to be every day.
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