 How does genital mutilation affect girls and women? It refers to all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for cultural or other non-medical reasons. The origins of the practice are unclear. It predates the rise of Christianity and Islam. It is said some Egyptian mummies display characteristics of female genital mutilation. An estimated 200 million girls and women alive today are believed to have been subjected to FGM. But how does FGM affect the health of women and girls? FGM has serious implications for the sexual and reproductive health of girls and women. Immediate complications include severe pains, shock, hemorrhage, and more. Hemorrhage and infection can be severe enough to cause death. When one tool is used to cut several girls, as is often the case in communities where large groups of girls are cut on the same day during a socio-cultural right, there is a risk of HIV transmission. UNFPN UNICEF jointly lead the largest global program to accelerate the elimination of FGM and provide care for its consequences. 1. Support gender equality in girls and women's rights. 2. Empower young people to end FGM in their communities. 3. Address the trend of medicalization by offering health professionals to view FGM as a human rights violation and for create health training programs, mobilize doctors, nurses and midwives in support of FGM prevention and care. But more needs to be done. Associations will continue to fight for change to ensure women and girls can live free from sexual and reproductive enforcement and all forms of gender-based violence.