February 6th is International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation

International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation is observed on February 06, 2014. International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation is a UN-sponsored awareness day. It is an effort to make the world aware of female genital mutilation (also called female genital mutilation or FGM) and to promote its eradication.

Female genital mutilation is defined by the World Health Organization as "all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons." Female Genital Mutilation is practised as a cultural ritual by ethnic groups in 27 countries in sub-Saharan and Northeast Africa, and to a lesser extent in Asia, the Middle East and within immigrant communities elsewhere.

FGM is typically carried out, with or without anaesthesia, by a traditional circumciser using a knife or razor. The health effects depend on the procedure but can include recurrent infections, chronic pain, cysts, infertility, complications during childbirth and fatal bleeding. FGM may complicate pregnancy. Psychological complications include depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Around 125 million women and girls in Africa and the Middle East have undergone FGM