Fundamentals
Consequences
Affected countries
BGH ruling
Successes in the campaign to end FGM

Female genital mutilation

Female genital mutilation (FGM for short) is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO)

the partial or complete removal of the female genitalia or damage to the genital organs without a profound medical background

(see WHO, bit.ly/NbKzmv).

In many countries, mutilation is carried out for traditional or cultural reasons and is particularly widespread in Islamic regions of Africa, which often - falsely - justify these practices with the holy scriptures of the Koran.

The matter

In Africa, they call it "the thing" and FGM has been a fixed ritual for around 5,000 years, performed on girls and women from infancy to adulthood. Mainly, however, before the onset of puberty in order to "protect" the girls from their own sexuality and to preserve them as "pure" so that the future husband recognizes the woman as a virgin.

Without the act of mutilation, there is otherwise a risk that the girl or woman will be rejected by the community. FGM is therefore also seen as a symbol of ethnicity and femininity.


The mutilation is carried out by so-called "circumcisers". These are usually women of an advanced age who have been practicing the process for many years. FGM is recognized by the tribes as a kind of "profession" and is well paid. Knives and razor blades are used as "tools" to perform the circumcision as well as acacacia thorns and slings to "sew up" the wound and hold the legs together after the mutilation so that the wound does not reopen through further movements and the girl bleeds to death. In the more severe types of mutilation, a straw is also used to leave the victim with a small opening - about the size of a grain of rice - for urine and menstruation (see type 3).

The WHO basically differentiates between four types of female genital mutilation:

  • Type 1:

    • In this procedure, either the clitoris (female erectile sexual organ) is partially or completely removed or the clitoral hood is cut away. This procedure is also known as a clitoridectomy.

    • Type 2:

    At this stage, a clitoridectomy is performed and the lesser labia (labia minora) are partially or completely removed. This form of mutilation accounts for about 85 percent of all FGM practices.

    • Type 3:

    The third type is known as "infibulation" or "pharaonic circumcision" and involves the removal of the clitoris and the lesser and greater labia. The residual vulva is then closed with acacia thorns. Inserting a foreign object, such as a straw, prevents the wound from growing together, leaving a small opening for urinating and menstruating.

    • Type 4:

    In this stage, the mutilation is carried out by extreme brutality in the form of piercing, cutting, stretching or cauterizing the clitoris and labia.

    TARGET's mission is to end the bloody custom

    Every day, 8,000 girls are robbed of their genitals and thus their dignity. One every eleven seconds. Worldwide, 150 million women are affected. TARGET wants to put an end to this crime.

    Since female genital mutilation is incorrectly justified with sacred scriptures and religious duty and most of the victims are Muslim women, we see the power of Islam as the greatest opportunity to end this bloody custom. TARGET's "PRO-Islamic Alliance against Female Genital Mutilation" (PIA) aims to declare the practice incompatible with the Koran and the ethics of Islam, discrimination against Islam, presumption against God and a sin in all countries.
    High-ranking Islamic authorities have joined this alliance.

    TARGET's mission is to take the Azhar decision to all the mosques of the world and finally to have the ban on female genital mutilation proclaimed in Mecca.

    The consequences of female genital mutilation

    The consequences of FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) are generally dependent on the degree of mutilation, the methods used and the hygienic conditions. It is not only physical, but also severe psychological damage that lasts a lifetime. The suffering ranges from unimaginable pain during the procedure, trauma and shock to death from bleeding to death. The most important chronic sequelae include abdominal pain, massive urinary problems, complications during sexual intercourse, menstrual disorders, pregnancy and childbirth.

    Sexual complications

    In many cases, the victims of FGM also suffer from sexual complications, in that a woman mutilated by infibulation cannot have sex with her husband in a "normal" way. If the degree of mutilation is high and the vaginal opening is too small due to wound healing, the man often cannot penetrate the woman. As a result, the scarred vagina must be reopened. The woman is usually cut open by the man with a knife or razor blade on the wedding night. As a result, there is also a serious risk that the woman will bleed to death or suffer extremely serious injuries.

    TARGET's obstetrics clinic

    With the help of TARGET's Obstetric Clinic in the Danakil Desert of Ethiopia, vaginal opening operations can be performed by experienced gynecologists under hygienic conditions. Women are also given adequate examinations and medical care to prevent or avoid complications in view of an impending birth. This also significantly reduces the mortality rate of babies, which is around 50% without obstetric care. TARGET is doing valuable work with the Danakil Obstetric Clinic to help the victims of FGM and carry out important educational work.

    Countries affected

    Female genital mutilation is mainly practised on the African continent. The countries with the highest prevalence are mainly in the northern half of the continent, in a belt stretching from Senegal in the west to Somalia in the east. In some countries, up to 99% of women are affected. However, it also occurs in more southern regions of Africa - although no statistics or studies exist for the countries affected.

    In the Middle East, female genital mutilation occurs in Yemen, northern Iraq, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Bahrain, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories in the Gaza Strip are also mentioned. In Asia, India, Indonesia and Malaysia are affected, possibly also Sri Lanka. Due to migration, however, female genital mutilation has now become a global problem that also affects Europe, America, Australia and New Zealand. Figures, statistics and studies can provide an indication of the prevalence of FGM. As it is generally difficult to collect data locally, published figures often differ from one another.

    Affected countries

    Court prevents mutilation of a girl

    A five-year-old girl was to be taken by her Gambian mother, who lives in Germany, to her grandmother in The Gambia. The girl was threatened with genital mutilation. TARGET alerted the youth welfare office, the public prosecutor's office and Federal Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul. With success.

    The mother's right of residence was withdrawn and transferred to the youth welfare office. The mother went to court.

    The case finally ended up at the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). This court handed down an exemplary ruling on December 15, 2004.

    You can find the BGH ruling HERE

    Against tradition and yet successful - for the girls of Africa!



    TARGET's strategy to end female genital mutilation with Islam as a partner achieved decisive results:

    The fatwas

    • In 2004, the chairman of the Central Council of Muslims of Mauritania wrote a fatwa by hand on a piece of wood following a request, a visit and a two-day conference organized with TARGET in Nouakchott: "Female mutilation and the health risks it causes are not permitted."

    • The breakthrough for an end to FGM in November 2006: In the Al Azhar in Cairo (spiritual center of Sunni Islam, TARGET was allowed to convene the International Conference of Islamic Scholars against Female Genital Mutilation under the patronage of the Grand Mufti of Egypt. In the resulting fatwa, the highest international scholars wrote: "Female genital mutilation is a punishable crime. It violates the highest values of Islam."

    • On March 2, 2009, the highly respected scholar Sheikh Prof. Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, Chairman of the International Association of Islamic Scholars, wrote a fatwa in response to TARGET's request and visit. In it, he outlaws FGM as a "work of the devil".

    • In 2011, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Said Ramadan Al-Buti, the highest scholar of the Shafiite school of law, wrote a fatwa from the perspective of his school of law at TARGET's request and visit to Damascus, in which FGM is prohibited due to the "dangerous harm caused by this custom and the violation of the natural right to a sexually satisfying and fulfilling married life in an immense way".

    The Golden Book

    The summary of the Cairo conference and the most important fatwas were summarized by TARGET in the so-called Golden Book. It was designed in a precious way and is distributed by TARGET's imam teams as a basis for sermons on the topic of FGM in awareness campaigns, primarily to imams in affected countries, so far in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau.

    Employment at country level

    • The Afar (Ethiopia, 1.6 million people) declared female genital mutilation prohibited among their people as early as 2002 at TARGET's 1st Desert Conference.

    • In 2004, the 2nd Desert Conference in Mauritania and the 3rd Desert Conference in Djibouti with the highest leaders and scholars of the ethnic groups followed with bans on FGM due to the harm it causes girls and women.

    • In 2004, at the request of the Mufti of Mauritania Hamden Ould Tah, TARGET spread the Grand Mufti's fatwa to various desert locations with a traditional camel caravan, the Caravan of Hope. Finally, for the first time in the city's history, a banner was stretched in front of the seventh largest shrine in Islam, the Pilgrim Mosque in Chinguetti, with the fatwa on it.

    • On July 6, 2007, the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs of the Afar and the highest clan leaders of the Afar laid down the punishment for genital mutilation in tribal law: "Obligation to report the parents and blood money against the circumciser". Together with TARGET, a large metal sign with photos of prominent Afar personalities was erected in front of the mosque at the entrance to Samara, the new capital of Afar province. They stand by the message emblazoned on the sign in four languages: "Female genital mutilation is a sinful act"!

    More milestones in the campaign to end FGM

    • In 2001, TARGET initiated a Pro-Islamic Alliance to unite senior scholars and tribal leaders for an end to FGM.

    • After TARGET's intervention in 2004, the Federal Court of Justice passed a decisive judgment to protect migrant daughters living in Germany from mutilation in the family's country of origin (Gambia).

    • In 2009, a sermon by the Imam with the Golden Book in Afar had an exemplary effect: after this sermon, a former mutilator founded an initiative to protect girls with four other former mutilators. The women are also midwives, so they have access to the mothers and newborns, and within just three months they saved 60 girls from FGM.

    • 2010-2015 built: TARGET's Danakil Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic, provides assistance to women and girls severely affected by FGM in Ethiopia. The clinic is an oasis in the desert. Preventive education on FGM is an integral part of the round-the-clock operation of the clinic, which is financed and maintained by TARGET with donations.

    TARGET in the public eye:

    The founding family Annette and Rüdiger Nehberg have received many honors for their commitment to ending FGM.
    The Afar declared Annette and Rüdiger Nehberg their first honorary citizens and presented them with the Afar Award.
    TV documentaries about TARGET's work received high honors.

    Impressions