Rights defenders: 1240 girls circumcised in Dagestan

The practice of girls' genital mutilation is carried out with the silent support of males; and the state is passive, says the study of the "Legal Initiative", which estimated the number of victims of girls' circumcision in Northern Caucasus for the year.

According to the website of the "Legal Initiative", the respondents in the study were men, whose wives, daughters or relatives were circumcised or not.

The bulk of men continue regarding this tradition as a reality.

According to the authors of the report, approximately 1240 girls annually become victims of genital mutilation in Dagestan.

Some respondents declare that this practice is mandatory; others stated that they had abandoned it, referring to a religious ban on changing the body and causing harm to one's health.

According to human rights defenders, for a year and a half after the publication of the first report on this issue, the state has done nothing to address the problem.

Earlier, the Human Rights Council under the Russian President promised to tackle the problem of female circumcision in the Caucasus.

In 2016, Ismail Berdiev, the chairman of the Muslims' Coordination Centre of Northern Caucasus stated that he "advocates circumcision of all women." His words aroused great resonance, after which he called them a joke.