i fgm is common; while in garmyan and new kirkuk, type ii and iii fgm are common. there was no law against fgm in iraqi kurdistan, but in 2007 a draft legislation condemning the practice was submitted to the regional parliament, but was not passed. a 2011 kurdish law criminalized fgm practice in iraqi kurdistan and this law is not being enforced. a field report by iraqi group pana center, published in 2012, shows 38% of females in kirkuk and its surrounding districts areas had undergone female circumcision. of those females circumcised, 65% were kurds, 26% arabs and rest turkmen. on the level of religious and sectarian affiliation, 41% were sunnis, 23% shiites, rest kaka’is, and none christians or chaldeans. a 2013 report finds fgm prevalence rate of 59% based on clinical examination of about 2000 iraqi kurdish women; fgm found were type i, and 60% of the mutilation were performed to girls in 4–7 year age group. see asuda, a kurdistan ngo. the highest prevalence rates of fgm are in kirkuk (20%), sulaymaniyah (54%) and erbil (58%). israel though illegal, female circumcision is still practiced among the negev bedouin, and tribal secrecy among the bedouin makes it difficult for authorities to enforce the ban. jordan residents of wadi araba village in southern jordan are known to practice fgm. the practice is foreign to the rest of the country, experts speculate that this practice was introduced through descendants of tribes that came from neighbouring gaza and beer sheba. malaysia female genital mutilation type i is prevalent in malaysia, where 93% of females from muslim families (about 9 million females) have been mutilated. it is widely considered as a female sunnah tradition (sunat perempuan), typically in the old days done by midwife (mak bidan) and now by medical physician. it is either a minor prick or cutting off a small piece of the highest part of clitoral hood and foreskin (type i). malaysian women claim religious obligation (82%) as the primary reason for female circumcision, with hygiene (41%) and cultural practice (32%) as other major motivators for fgm prevalence. malaysia is a multicultural society. fgm is only prevalent in the muslim community, and not among minority buddhist and hindu communities. malaysia has no laws in reference to fgm. the malaysian government sponsored 86th conference of malaysia's fatwa committee national council of islamic religious affairs held in april 2009 decided that female circumcision is part of islamic teachings and it should be observed by muslims, with the majority of the jurists in the committee concluding that female circumcision is obligatory (wajib). the fatwa noted harmful circumcision methods are to be avoided. in 2012, malaysian government health ministry proposed guidelines to reclassify and allow female circumcision as a medical practice. maldives female genital mutilation is practiced in maldives. maldives' attorney general husnu suood claims fgm was eradicated from maldives by the 1990s, but the practice of female circumcision in maldives is reviving because of islamic fatwas from religious scholars in maldives who preach that it as compulsory. religious leaders have renewed their calls for fgm in 2014. oman the practice is very prevalent in oman. a 2013 article by journalist susan mubarak describes fgm practice in oman, and claims the practice is very common in dhofar in the southwest. the author went on to say that a previous article on the topic received both positive feedback for spreading awareness of what some considered a 'horrific tradition', as well as negative feedback from others for 'hanging dhofar's dirty washing for the world to see and criticising a practice that they believe is purely islamic,' commenting that she 'paid little attention to these criticisms because i know the practice is harmful and primitive', and 'our religion neither encourages the practice nor condemns it.' according to a small survey by human rights activist and statistician habiba al hinai conducted in october 2013 and published in january 2014, 78% of 100 women interviewed living in the capital city of muscat had undergone fgm. these women came from all parts of the country, each region showing a very high prevalence, and even though fewer women from muscat itself had undergone fgm, they were still in the majority. her findings contradicted the common belief that fgm was only widespread in the south. type i is mostly performed in southern oman and typically performed within a few weeks of a girl's birth, while type iv is observed in other parts of northern oman. fgm otherwise is not practice in oman neither is considered prominent by the world health organization. pakistan female genital mutilation is uncommon in pakistan, as most pakistanis follow the hanafi and jafari schools of thought, which do not support fgm, according to sources dated to the 1990s and 2000s. however, fgm is widespread among minorities such as the bohra muslims of pakistan and the sheedi muslim community of pakistan, which is considered to be of arab-african origins. the practice is also found in muslim communities near pakistan's iran-balochistan border. palestine female genital mutilation is practiced in palestine. philippines female genital mutilation is prevalent in parts of the philippines. the communities that practice fgm call it pag-sunnat, sometimes pag-islam, and include tausugs of mindanao, yakan of basilan and other muslim communities of philippines. fgm is typically performed on girls between a few days old and age 8. type iv fgm with complications has been reported. qatar female genital mutilation is present in qatar. saudi arabia female genital mutilation is present in saudi arabia. fgm is most prevalent in saudi regions following shafi'i school within the sunni sect of islam, such as hejaz, tihamah and asir. in a clinical study published in 2008, alsibiani and rouzi provide evidence of the practice in saudi arabia. a 2010 study conducted at a jeddah hospital into the incidence of clitoral cysts found that a minimum of 46.9% (and a possible maximum of 90.7%) of cases had undergone fgm. a 2012 study reports, that of the saudi women who had fgm, type iii was more common than type i or ii. a 2018 survey of 365 households conducted in hali, al-qunfudhah governorate, western saudi arabia found a prevalence of fgm of 80.3%, 59.4% of which had undergone fgm at the age 7 years or younger, and almost always by a doctor (91.4%). a 2019 survey of women attending obstetrics and gynaecology clinics at king abdulaziz university hospital, jeddah, found that of the 963 women surveyed, 175 (18.2%) had undergone fgm. singapore female genital mutilation is practiced by the malay muslim community in singapore. malay muslims typically carry out the practice on girls before the age of two. many malay muslims, especially the older generations, believe fgm reduces women's libido and decreases the risk of sex outside marriage. sri lanka female genital mutilation is practiced by the muslim minority in sri lanka. syria circumstantial evidence suggests fgm exists in syria. a 2012 conference confirmed that fgm is observed in syria. thailand female genital mutilation is practiced by the muslim population in the south of thailand. turkey though there is little hard evidence of the practice of fgm in turkey, circumstantial evidence suggests fgm exists in the southern turkey where the majority of the population is kurdish. united arab emirates the who mentions a study that documents fgm in the united arab emirates, but does not provide data. the practice is reportedly prevalent in rural and urban uae. in a 2011 survey, 34% of emirati female respondents said fgm had been performed on them, and explained the practice to customs and tradition. fgm is a controversial topic in uae, and people argue about whether it is an islamic requirement or a tribal tradition. a significant number of uae nationals follow in the footsteps of their parents and grandparents without questioning the practice. yemen according to a 2008 unicef report, 30% prevalence; in addition to the adult prevalence, unicef reports that 20% of women aged 15–49 have a daughter who had the procedure in yemen. in 4 of yemen's 21 governorates, according to a 2008 report, the fgm prevalence rates exceed 80%: al-hudaydah (97%), hadhramaut (97%), al-mahrah (97%) and adan (82%); sana'a governorate, which includes the capital of yemen, has a prevalence rate of 46%. type ii fgm was most common, accounting for 83% of all fgms. type i fgms accounted for 13%. yemeni tradition is to carry out the fgm on a newborn, with 97% of fgm being done within the first month of a baby girl. in 2001, yemen banned fgm in all private and public medical facilities by a government decree, but not homes. the yemeni government did not enforce this decree. in 2009, conservative yemeni parliamentarians opposed the adoption of a nationwide criminal law against fgm. in 2010, the ministry of human rights of yemen launched a new study to ascertain over 4 years if fgm is being practiced in yemen, then propose a new law against fgm. a 2013 unicef report claims yemen's fgm prevalence rate have not changed in last 30 years. europe overview the council of europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (also known as the istanbul convention), which came into force on 1 august 2014, defines and criminalises the practice in article 38: article 38 – female genital mutilation parties shall take the necessary legislative or other measures to ensure that the following intentional conducts are criminalised: excising, infibulating or performing any other mutilation to the whole or any part of a woman’s labia majora, labia minora or clitoris;coercing or procuring a woman to undergo any of the acts listed in point a;inciting, coercing or procuring a girl to undergo any of the acts listed in point a. pre-migratory fgm in the early 21st century, the increase in immigration for individuals from countries where fgm is commonly practiced has made fgm a noticeable phenomenon in european societies that has raised concerns. fgm prevalence rates have been difficult to quantify among immigrants to european countries. a 2005 case study which investigated fgm in groups of migrant women from northern africa to european regions like scandinavia, noted that a majority of these women had fgm before their migration to europe. a 2016 epidemiological study by van baelen et al. estimated that, based on 2011 census data, more than 500,000 girls and women living in the european union, norway and switzerland had undergone fgm before migrating to those european countries. half of these girls and women were living in the united kingdom or france; one in two was born in east africa. post-migratory fgm it has also been established that african communities in european countries continue the practice of fgm on their daughters after migrating to europe. for instance in sweden, a study by karolinska institutet concluded that about a third of families migrated from countries with an fgm culture wanted to continue mutilating in their new countries. france between 1979 and 2004, a total of 29 fgm court cases were brought before criminal courts, mostly from the mid-1990s onwards and with aggravated sentences. by 2013, more than 100 people had been convicted of fgm. fgm is a criminal offense punishable by 10 years or up to 20 years in jail if the victim is under 15 years of age. the law requires anyone to report any case of mutilation or planned mutilation. in 2014 it was reported that about 100 people in france had been jailed. not only the person carrying out the mutilation is sentenced, parents organising the crime face legal proceedings as well. germany according to women's right organization terre des femmes in 2014, there were 25,000 victims in germany and a further 2,500 were at risk of being mutilated. in 2018, the estimate had increased to 65000. a further 15500 were at risk of having the mutilation done to them which represented an increase of 17% on the previous year. according to the bmfsfj most of the victims originated in eritrea, indonesia, somalia, egypt and ethiopia. ireland akidwa, an ngo providing a network for immigrant women in ireland, estimated in 2016 that between 3,000 and 5,000 girls and women in the country had been subjected to fgm. a 2012 act of the oireachtas (parliament) criminalises fgm (including outside the state) and removal of a person from the state for