Nov 5 2011
"Women's groups in the Somali town of Galkayo are lobbying the authorities in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland to enact a law banning female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), saying the practice was becoming widespread," IRIN reports. "Activists say FGM/C causes serious health problems to the women and is against their religion," according to the news service, which speaks with several advocates pushing for the enactment of an anti-FGM/C law. The advocates note that, in addition to passing a law, "a religious fatwa [decree] proclaiming that FGM is Haram [illegal] under Islam" and "convincing and winning the support of traditional elders and religious leaders was crucial to" their efforts, IRIN writes (11/3).
 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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