Studies from across the Arab region

Female genital cutting is not unique to Egypt. National estimates of women having undergone various forms of circumcision across the Middle East and North Africa range from around 40% in Yemen to 90% or more in Sudan and Djibouti. While these countries are well-known heartlands of female genital cutting, emerging research shows the practice further afield in the Arab region, including Saudi Arabia ,  UAE,  and Iraqi Kurdistan. Migration of families from countries where FGC is common is taking the practice on the road; for those who move within the Arab region, it is still unclear as to whether the practice is spreading from migrant communities into the local population, coated in Islam to ease the way.