Kenya’s high court upheld a ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) in a landmark ruling on Wednesday welcomed by campaigners seeking to eradicate the internationally condemned procedure. The court was ruling on a petition seeking to legalize FGM on the grounds that the ban is unconstitutional and that adult women should be allowed to do what they want with their bodies. The petition was brought in 2017 by a female doctor, Tatu Kamau, who said that women were being harassed and arrested for undergoing FGM. Kenya criminalised FGM in 2011 with a punishment of three years imprisonment and a $2,000 fine, but the practice persists because some communities regard it as necessary for social acceptance and increasing their daughters’ marriage prospects. An estimated 200 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to FGM, which usually involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia. The ritual is practised in at least 27 African countries and parts of Asia and the Middle East.
SOURCE: REUTERS
More Stories
Economic Perks of Growing Cycling Culture in North Africa
The Bank of Uganda Lowers Limits on the Value of Cheque Payments to Promote e-payments
Four Industrial Policy Regimes that have Shaped Africa
Ex Standard Bank Leader Cleared in Mozambique Price Fixing
Zanzibar and Pemba are about to Become a Test Site for a Mobile Internet Network
East Africa’s Mineral Deposits at the Centre of Future-facing Commodities
A Scramble for Controlling Interest in Nigeria’s Oldest Bank
Top Risks Facing South Africa
New Scheme to Save Zimbabwe’s Botched Land Reform
The First Floating LNG Facility is Deployed in the Deep Waters of the African Continent
The EU Lifts Air Travel Bans on Southern African States
Senegal’s Illustrious Portfolio of Architecture