female genital mutilation

A victory for opponents of female genital mutilation in The Gambia

3:20pm July 16, 2024

by Gabrielle Emanuel

On Monday, Gambian lawmakers rejected a bill that would have overturned its ban on female genital mutilation. The vote marks a victory for women’s rights activists and comes after months of intense debate.

Queue Listen Now

Opponents of the ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) gather outside the National Assembly in Banjul, The Gambia, on March 18, 2024. Lawmakers voted to advance a highly controversial bill that would lift the ban on FGM.

The Gambia is debating whether to repeal its ban on female genital mutilation

8:18pm March 22, 2024

by Diane Cole

Like many countries in Africa, The Gambia has a law criminalizing the practice of female genital mutilation. Now, amid a religious backlash, it could become the first country to repeal its ban.

Giving a lesson at the home of a girl in Cali, Colombia, in August 2020, a teacher wears a biosecurity suit to prevent infection from the novel coronavirus. The "teacher at home" program aimed to help students stay in touch with teachers during pandemic school shutdowns.

Health & Safety

It's a bleak 'Day of the Girl' because of the pandemic. But no one's giving up hope

11:53am October 11, 2022

by Sheila Mulrooney Eldred

The United Nations established the Day of the Girl a decade ago to address issues that affect girls' rights: education, teen pregnancy, child marriage. Steady progress has been made. Then came COVID.

Students rehearse a poem that they will recite at an event advocating against female genital mutilation at the Imbirikani Girls High School in Kenya.

Is The Pandemic Causing A Surge In Female Genital Mutilation?

11:55am January 05, 2021

by Maria Godoy

Kenya's president pledged to stamp out the practice by 2022. But since the pandemic began, activists say more girls are being cut — and married off afterward.

Leyla Hussein and Nimco Ali, co-founders of a nonprofit group that seeks to eliminate female genital mutilation, were honored by Queen Elizabeth II for their work.

The Queen Honors Two Women Who Seek To End Female Genital Mutilation

4:56pm June 11, 2019

by Susie Neilson

They're Leyla Hussein and Nimco Ali — both named Officers of the Order of the British Empire at Queen Elizabeth II's Birthday Honours Ceremony.

This homemade tool was used for female circumcision in northeast Uganda.

The 2019 Report Card For The Fight To End Female Genital Mutilation

3:24pm February 06, 2019

by Diane Cole

On this day of "zero tolerance" for FGM, how is the world doing in its campaign to halt the practice?

A London jury convicted a woman of committing female genital mutilation on her daughter, when the child was 3. It is first time anyone in the U.K. has been found guilty of the crime since it became illegal in 1985.

World News

In UK First, Court Convicts Mother Of Female Genital Mutilation

8:52pm February 01, 2019

by Vanessa Romo

It's the first time anyone has been successfully prosecuted under the anti-FGM law, passed more than 30 years ago. Officials say the mother performed the procedure on her 3-year-old daughter in 2017.

National

Judge Says Federal Law Against Female Genital Mutilation Violates U.S. Constitution

4:05pm November 21, 2018

by Camila Domonoske

A federal judge in Michigan dropped most charges against a doctor accused of female genital mutilation, concluding that Congress "overstepped its bounds" when it passed a law banning the practice.

Some cutters use a razor blade for the female genital mutilation procedure.

Health & Safety

Two Young Sisters Die After Undergoing Female Genital Mutilation

6:31pm September 14, 2018

by Rachel D. Cohen

The girls were ages 10 and 11 and lived in Somalia, which has the highest rate of FGM in the world.

Leena Khandwalla, 44, at her family home in Karachi, Pakistan. After members of her religious community in the U.S. and Australia were arrested for performing female genital mutilation, she decided to go public about her childhood experience of undergoing

A Secretive Sect Opens A Debate On Female Genital Mutilation

11:21pm February 28, 2018

by Diaa Hadid

The Bohras, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, practice cutting as a clandestine ritual. Now, the arrest of a Bohra doctor in Detroit for performing FGM has inspired a frank discussion in Pakistan.