The 2019 Report Card For The Fight To End Female Genital Mutilation
On this day of "zero tolerance" for FGM, how is the world doing in its campaign to halt the practice?
It's understandable that opponents of female genital mutilation (FGM) might feel discouraged as the new year gets underway.
From Uganda, where FGM was prohibited in 2010, came reports of 226 cases of FGM in December 2018 and January 2019 in the Sebei region.
"FGM cuts were conducted in broad-day light within Kween Town under the protection of panga-wielding youths," wrote Alain Sibenaler, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representative in Kampala, who answered questions from NPR via email. "This behavior encouraged communities to gather courage to openly undergo FGM in Kween whereas in [near-by towns] FGM is still conducted undercover."
Leaders of the local Sabiny culture were protesting the fact that
