This practice is widespread in African, the Middle East and Asian countries. It is performed on the children of female gender and is considered a surgical intervention.
The above-mentioned phenomenon is a deeply rooted tradition and is performed by a special procedure. Specifically, it is common in the rural areas of Africa, where the tradition is of a deep character.
This process changes, mutilates the external sexual organs of the women, hinders urination, causing a risk of infectious diseases, increases the percentage of infant death, causing bleeding and even death.
Circumcision is performed based on the grounds that it prepares women for marriage and is a means of preserving the innocence. According to the information of the BBC website, the UNICEF research shows that around 125 million women in the world that have undergone circumcision and are against it.
There are 30 million children who are at risk of potential circumcision.
UNICEF wants to intervene, and stop such practice. According to the data of the United Nations Children’s Fund, in the number of circumcision is decreasing gradually. The studies of the last twenty-year show that in 29 countries in African and Middle East, circumcision is still practiced.
However it should be noted, that the number of circumcision in some countries during the past 30 years has decreased up to three times. Geeta Rao Gupta, Deputy Executive Director, states that circumcision is a gross violation of the rights of women and children, and is against the welfare, health and freedom of orientation rights.
Obviously, merely the legal prohibition of this occurrence is not enough.
According to UNHCR data, the law in the states provides prohibition of circumcision, but it is so deeply rooted that it cannot be prevented merely by prohibition of the law. The State intervention is not effective either and cannot be operated in the rural areas where this phenomenon fundamentally exists among the people, and very often family members and relatives force the children to undergo such kind of procedure.
There are a lot of refugees when the when the parent have a well-founded fear that in case of returning to the country of origin, their child would like undergo such procedure.
The existence of such a fear is a reason for granting refugee status to a person.
