A workshop sponsored by HUMAN ACCESS in Al-Mahra Governorate was conducted on how government health institutions can help address harmful practices affecting women and girls, including female genital mutilation (FGM).
Several health personnel and heads of departments at government health institutions attended the workshop, as part of the project funded by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to combat FGM.
The workshop, attended by the director general of Al-Ghaydah Central Hospital, Mohsen Balhaf, discussed the physical, psychological and social damage and complications associated with the FGM phenomenon for girls, which constitutes a form of gender-based violence as well as a violation of basic human rights for both women and girls.
The importance of working together to address FGM and the danger of medicalizing this phenomenon was also stressed.
