A newly-released Yemen study conducted in late 2011 revealed that 97 percent of Hodeidah's girls and 75,8 of Hadramout's are subject to the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM).
The study said that the practice of FGM causes the lose of sexual desire, disorder of menstrual bleeding and chronic inflammation.
UNFPA urged the global world to join its efforts to end such practice and help millions of girls to enjoy more healthy life.
No consensus among religious scholars against the practice of FGM. Top Muslim clerics have repeatedly decried the practice as purely traditional and without basis in Islamic scriptures.
On the occasion of the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation on February 6, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) released a statement in which it renewed its commitment to end such practice.
According to UNPF office in Sana'a , 24 percent of Yemeni women have been exposed to (FGM). USAID’s 1997 Demographic and Health Survey conducted in Yemen found that nearly all reported procedures (97 percent) occurred during the first month of life.
UNICEF estimates that millions of girls and women are annually subjected to the harmful practice of FGM. It is often done under poor hygienic conditions, leaving women traumatized and posing serious health risks.
The practice of FGM is prevalent in countries of the region such as Djibouti, Sudan, Egypt, Somalia and places in West Africa, which together account for 99 per cent of the global total of FGM cases.
According to UNICEF, 70 million girls and women in the Middle East and Africa have been victims of FGM.