Indonesia: About half of Indonesian girls under 14 have undergone some kind of FGM

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Indonesia | 29 February 2016

In a surprising report on female genital mutilation (FGM), UNICEF revealed on 11 February 2016 that a ratio of 49 percent of girls under 14 years of age in Indonesia undergo some kind of FGM. Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, explains: "Whereas UNICEF"s understanding of FGM is inclusive and it has to be said that - compared to many African states - the mutilation is less and is carried out by trained medical staff, it is still an important reminder that even in such a comparably tolerant and liberal Muslim country as Indonesia, cultural and religious traditions are strong. This should always be kept in the back of one"s mind when the situation of the Christian minority is looked at since traditions and cultural or religious attitudes are much more deeply ingrained than any tag of "˜liberalism" or "˜tolerance" might portray. Stereotypes and institutional discrimination against Christians frequently find their roots in this cultural background." ‚