A/HRC/29/20 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 27/22, the Human Rights Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit to it at its twenty-ninth session a compilation of good practices and major challenges in preventing and eliminating female genital mutilation. 2. The present compilation was prepared in consultation with States, United Nations entities, civil society organizations and other relevant stakeholders. All of the submissions for the report can be found on the website Office of the of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).1 II. Definition and legal framework 3. According to United Nations entities, female genital mutilation includes procedures involving the partial or total removal of the external female genitals or other injury to the female genital organs for non-therapeutic reasons.2 According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in the 29 countries for which data was available, more than 130 million girls and women had been subjected to the practice. In half of those countries, the majority of procedures had been completed before the girls had reached the age of five. The practice can be found in some countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia and in some communities in Latin America. It is also present in Europe, Australia and North America among communities originating from countries where female genital mutilation is practised. 4. The underlying reasons for the practice vary across cultures, between and within communities; however, under the cultural, religious and social surface, it becomes clear that they are all rooted in gender-based discrimination and harmful gender stereotypes about the role of women and girls in society. Female genital mutilation appears to be used as a means to control women’s sexuality and is linked to other violations based on patriarchy and gendered norms, such as child and forced marriage, marital rape and intimate partner violence. In many communities, it is seen as an important rite of passage into womanhood and indicates a girl’s readiness for marriage. Among female refugees and migrants and women with immigrant background, the practice can serve as marker of cultural identity and is often perceived as a source of personal and collective identity. 5. The practice often compromises the natural functions of girls’ and women’s bodies and has a profoundly detrimental impact on the health of women and girls, including their psychological and sexual and reproductive health. The short-term consequences of female genital mutilation can include death from hemorrhaging and severe pain, trauma and infections that may result from the procedure.3 Long-term consequences can include 1 2 3 www.ohchr.org/en/issues/women/wrgs/pages/eliminatefemale genital mutilations.aspx. World Health Organization (WHO), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, United Nations Development Programme, Economic Commission for Africa, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, United Nations Population Fund, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, United Nations Children’s Fund and United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, Eliminating female genital mutilation: an interagency statement (Geneva, 2008). Immediate complications can include severe pain, shock, haemorrhage (bleeding), tetanus or sepsis (bacterial infection), urine retention, open sores in the genital region and injury to nearby genital tissue. Long-term consequence can include recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections, cysts, 3