The highest authority in Sudan ratified a law criminalizing female genital mutilation. The justice ministry announced this on Friday.
Sudan’s sovereign council, comprising of military and civilian authorities, approved a series of laws including one “criminalizing” the age-old practice known as FGM or genital cutting.
Sudan’s cabinet approved the amendments to the criminal code that would punish those who perform the operation with up to three years in prison and perhaps a fine.
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This will save most girls in Sudan as the practice has affected 90% who have fallen victim to FGM.
FGM involves the cutting off of the labia and clitoris, often in unsanitary conditions and without anesthesia.
The justice ministry warns that doctors or health workers who carry out genital cutting would be penalized under the new law, and hospitals, clinics, or other places where the operation was conducted would be shut down.