Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene May-June 2016 Vol. 11 No.3 | Page 32

Hygiene Eliminating FGM: what can health professionals do? Female genital mutilation (FGM)—defined by WHO as “procedures that involve the partial or total removal of external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons”—is internationally recognised as a violation of the human rights of girl