FGM in Egypt

When looking through the penguin atlas, what was the most surprising thing to me was the extraordinarily high level of female genital mutilation that takes place in Egypt. According to the atlas, FGM in Egypt happens to over 90% of girls under the age of 14. An article I found on Newscientist said that although FGM is illegal by ministerial decree, the practice continues to be condoned by religious leaders and carried out by parents who do not want their daughters to be disadvantaged. Looking at an informational article through religioustolerance.org, I learned that it is starting to become a controversial topic in Egypt right now. The practice of FGM is a deeply engrained cultural tradition that is defended through religion, but has little to do with religion, and while there are a growing number of people resisting this practice, the opposition is taking it as an attack on Islam itself. Neighboring Islamic countries do not practice FGM as much as Egypt,
To my mind, Egypt’s national development would indicate that such practice would not take place, at least with such prevalence. FGM is a very old tradition in some parts of the world, but I have always associated it with less developed countries where the women and the people in general, have less education and less options. Egypt is not one of these places, and yet when flipping through the penguin atlas, the treatment of women in that country is undeniable poor.