According to new data from
UNICEF, the number of girls under the age of 15 who have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) is decreasing significantly. As indicated by the new data, in northern Somalia, only about 25% of girls have suffered FGM compared to 99% of adult women.
UNICEF’s Chief of Child Protection in Somalia, Sheema Sen Gupta, said that 28 communities in Somaliland have reportedly stopped carrying out FGM and the organization hopes that 60 more communities will ban FGM by 2014. Ms. Gupta believes that “If, five years later, we find that this trend is reflected in the next age group, 15 to 25 [years old], then we know that it is sustained."