This blog posts any and all news related to Female Genital Cutting (FGC). It tracks only content that discusses FGC as a main subject. The page is designed as a resource for researchers and those who want to keep up to date on this issue without slogging through google alerts or news pages. Original authors are responsible for their content. To suggest content please write to fgcblogger@gmail.com. FGC is also called female genital mutilation or FGM; FGM/C; or female circumcision.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Uganda to Outlaw Female Circumcision
July 3, 2009
KAMPALA (AFP) — Uganda will pass a law banning female genital mutilation, which is rampant among pastoralist tribes in the country's eastern region, the president said in a statement Friday.
"The way God made it, there is no part of a human body that is useless," President Yoweri Museveni told a gathering in the eastern Karamoja district.
"Now you people interfere with God's work. Some say it is culture. Yes, I support culture but you must support culture that is useful and based on scientific information," he added.
Last year, the United Nations passed a resolution that called female genital mutilation a violation of the rights of women and said it constituted "irreparable, irreversible abuse."
The resolution also said female circumcision increases the risk of HIV transmission, as well as maternal and infant mortality. The UN estimates that between 100 million to 140 million worldwide have undergone the practice. And her is the rest of it.