Female Circumcision, also called Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), is a traditionally
rooted process involving the partial or complete removal or alteration of healthy female genitalia
for non-medical reasons. While there are no proven health benefits of the practice there are
several serious health risks associated with it. The practice is usually carried out on girls between
infancy to fifteen years of age. About 101 million girls and women suffering the consequences of
FGM – out of the estimated 140 million worldwide – are in Africa. (WHO, No. 241) This paper
specifically focuses on two countries on the African continent – Egypt (2013 Human Rights
Report) and Burkina Faso – both very ancient countries. While in Egypt, 91% of the country‟s
female population (i.e., 27.2 million women) have undergone - and continue to undergo – FGM,
in Burkina Faso it is much less – 74% i.e., approximately 11 million women (WHO, 1) After
examining the causes of the practice in Egypt, I will highlight the efforts that are being made at a
social and legal level to eradicate FGM there, and will compare it to efforts in Burkina Faso
where FGM mitigation efforts have been so effective that the country has seen a significant
reduction in FGM levels over the last decade.