About 93.1% of Djibouti's women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation (female circumcision), a pre-marital custom mainly endemic to Northeast Africa and parts of the Near East. Although legally proscribed in 1994, the procedure is still widely practiced, as it is deeply ingrained in the local culture. Encouraged and performed by women in the community, circumcision is primarily intended to deter promiscuity and to offer protection from assault.