Can FGM/FGC be condoned if it is carried out by medical professionals under hygienic circumstances?
No. FGM/FGC in any form should not be practised by health professionals in any setting – including hospitals or other health establishments. Unnecessary bodily mutilation cannot be condoned by health providers. FGM/FGC is harmful to the health of women and girls and violates their basic human rights and medicalization of the procedure does not eliminate this harm. On the contrary, it reinforces the continuation of the practice by seeming to legitimize it. Health practitioners should provide all necessary care and counseling for complications that may arise as a result of FGM/FGC.
