It is believed to be ubiquitous in smaller villages, but the highest numbers are discounted because women might profess to having undergone the ritual, since it is considered such a hallmark of female modesty. Belief in the practice is not limited to rural areas. Dr. Said M. Thabit, a Cairo obstetrician, said he had not heard about the government ban but believed that it would be catastrophic on moral and hygienic grounds. Dr. Gamal Gaith, who works at the Minya el Qamh Public Hospital, said the decree finally prompted him to turn families away. In the weeks since the Egyptian health minister banned the ritual genital mutilation of girls, no one in this Nile Delta farming town has consulted the senior local cleric on whether to proceed with the custom.
People plan to do it anyway.
The cleric, Sheik Taha Gad, expects most Egyptians to defy the ministerial decree. The importance that families put on trying to curb a woman's sexual appetite is so deeply ingrained that everyone from the local farmers appalled by the ruling to the top government official responsible for putting it into effect says that some social customs are too potent to be extinguished by law. Men are obligated to do it to emulate him, and for women it is a virtue. But it is not really an issue that is discussed in public. Remember that Egyptian society clings tightly to its traditions and principles, so there is no change under way, and if one ever materializes no one will talk about it.