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Africa Horn
Eritrea bans female circumcision
2007-04-06
ASMARA/NAIROBI - Eritrea said on Thursday it has outlawed female circumcision, an often hazardous rite of passage practised by a significant majority of young Eritrean girls and women. The small Horn of Africa country had previously not had a law in place against the practice for fear that it would be driven underground.

“Female circumcision is a procedure that seriously endangers the health of women, causes them considerable pain and suffering besides threatening their lives,” a government statement said. Anyone who failed to inform authorities that circumcision had taken place could face imprisonment or pay a fine, the statement said.
This is good as far as it goes, but the practice isn't going to stop just because the gummint said so.
According to the National Union of Eritrean Women, who since the countryÂ’s independence in 1993 has led the push to outlaw the practice, almost 90 per cent of Eritrean women were circumcised in 2002, down from 95 per cent in 1995.
So they have a ways to go, don't they.
Female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation (FGM) or cutting, is widely practised in Africa and involves varying degrees of cutting a womanÂ’s clitoris or vagina for cultural or traditional reasons, including encouraging chastity. The health consequences vary depending on how invasive the cut, but the World Health Organization (WHO) said these could range from pain and shock to death from haemorrhaging. The practice is often performed with unclean blades and can cause infections.

The WHO said between 100 and 140 million girls and women have undergone FGM and each year some 2 million girls are at risk of cutting.
Posted by:Steve White

#1  You are now leaving the Stone Age. Welcome to the Bronze Age.
Posted by: Dar   2007-04-06 13:28  

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