Seventy-five women in northern Benin vowed last weekend to give up female genital mutilation (FGM) following an awareness campaign initiated by a group of NGOs, AFP reported on Tuesday. This brought to 200 the number of women who have given up the practice in Benin since the campaign was launched last year. In return, the NGOs have offered alternative means of income to the women, who used to earn up to US $3 per operation.
Meanwhile, the ‘Vanguard’, a Nigerian daily, reported on Wednesday that Delta State in southern Nigeria had now banned the practice. Under a law voted on Tuesday, perpetrators of FGM will be fined and imprisoned in Delta State. FGM, also called female circumcision, is rampant in parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
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