Genital mutilation of women worsens across world

THREE million women and girls undergo female genital mutilation each year, a higher number than previously believed, and the age at which it is carried out is getting lower in some countries, UNICEF said yesterday.

Nearly half of those cases are in Egypt and Ethiopia, it reported.

"In the 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East where female genital mutilation is performed, some 130 million girls and women have been victims of this practice," it said.