THE STAR INFOGRAPHIC
Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
There are many terms used to describe this practice, including ‘female circumcision,’ ‘female genital cutting,’ ‘khatna,’ ‘sunat,’ ‘sunat perempuan,’ and many other terms or acronyms depending on the specific local context involved.
Since 2020, UNICEF has refreshed its previous estimates of people who have undergone FGM/C in 2024 and found that there are at least 230 million people in the world who have undergone FGM/C.
This increase of 15% compared to the previously available data (which estimated that 200 million girls were impacted by FGM/C) is a result of population growth in the communities that practice FGM/C.
