Egypt faces calls for stricter laws after young girl dies from genital mutilation
Public anger over the death of a girl after she underwent female genital mutilation has forced both the Egyptian government and top clerics to take a stand.
Egypt is seeking amendments to the country's law against female genital mutilation (FGM) to plug loopholes that allow health practitioners and families of girls who undergo the outlawed procedure to escape punishment.
"A committee is being formed to study the law and recommend changes to curb the practice," Maya Morsy, head of Egypt's National Council for Women, announced in February.
“The current anti-FGM law is self-contradictory and has loopholes that make it difficult to convict doctors and other health practitioners who perform the procedure," lamented Nehad Abul Komsan, founder and director of the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights.
“The law includes a provision that exempts offenders from punishment if they carry out a procedure that is medically necessary or justifiable to protect the patient from harm. Some doctors use this as a basis for their fallacious argument that FGM is necessary to protect young girls from harm,” she told Al-Monitor.
