US woman says strict Christian parents subjected her to FGM
LondonThomson Reuters Foundation An American woman from a strict white Christian community has told how her parents forced her to undergo female genital mutilation as a child – a highly unusual case which activists said could lead to similar stories coming to light. Jennifer said she had decided to tell her story after launching a […]
Egyptian babies get blue ribbons as parents say ‘no’ to female genital mutilation
Thomson Reuters Foundation Doctors at two Cairo hospitals will pin blue ribbon badges to the clothing of newborn baby girls on Wednesday as they launch a campaign to persuade parents in Egypt to “say no to female genital mutilation”. The country has the highest number of women affected by FGM in the world, with nearly […]
Quick facts – Female genital mutilation in Britain
Thomson Reuters Foundation A London mother became the first person in Britain to be convicted of female genital mutilation on Friday – more than 30 years after the practice was outlawed. The Ugandan mother could face up to 14 years in jail. Police said the case demonstrated FGM was happening in Britain “behind a cloak of secrecy”. […]
Act now or face 100 more years of child marriage, economists warn
Thomson Reuters Foundation It will take 100 years to end child marriage if current trends continue, economists warned on Friday, urging governments to spend more on tackling a problem that affects 12 million girls every year. A study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development found global rates of child marriage were declining so […]
FGM rates drop for African girls but teens still at risk
Thomson Reuters Foundation Female genital mutilation has dropped drastically among African children this century, research shows, but campaigners said on Wednesday that teenagers and young women remained at risk of the harmful practice. Known as FGM, female genital mutilation is a ritual that usually involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia, including […]
Fear and prestige pushing Kenyan girls into FGM – and out of school
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation It was during her first year of high school in rural western Kenya that Mary Kuket says she was “sacrificed to tradition” and her dreams of becoming a doctor shattered forever. With no explanation, the 15-year-old was given away to another family, who forced her to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) […]
African countries urged to toughen laws on female genital mutilation
Thomson Reuters Foundation Millions of girls in Africa are at risk of female genital mutilation because their governments are failing to enforce laws banning the internationally condemned practice, campaigners said on Thursday. Six countries which are home to 16 million girls – Chad, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Sudan – still do not even […]
Thousands of FGM cases recorded in Britain
Thomson Reuters Foundation Thousands of cases of female genital mutilation have been identified over the past year in Britain, according to data published on Thursday that experts said showed the need for stronger action to tackle the illegal practice. More than 6,000 women and girls who visited a doctor, midwife, obstetrician or another public health […]
Female genital mutilation is a man’s issue too, says Kenyan Maasai activist
Thomson Reuters Foundation Kenyan campaigners against FGM, Natalie Robi and Amos LEuka, are pictured after speaking at an event in London marking International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM on Tuesday. PICTURE: Emma Batha/Thomson Reuters Foundation. Kenya could end female genital mutilation in a generation, campaigners from its conservative Maasai and Kuria communities said on […]
AFRICA: IN KENYA, A PASTOR FIGHTS FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION WITH THE GOSPEL
FREDRICK NZWILI, of Religion News Service, reports on how one pastor is challenging the practice of female circumcision…