In the News: Sudan Criminalizes FGM

Sudan criminalises female genital mutilation, as campaigners welcome a ‘new era’ for women’s rights in the country, Ryan Fahey, Daily Mail, 2020-05-01.

Sudan has criminalised female genital mutilation (FGM), making it punishable by three years in jail, a move campaigners said ushered in a ‘new era’ for women’s rights in the African nation.

Almost nine out of 10 women and girls in predominately Muslim Sudan have undergone FGM, United Nations data show. The procedure usually involves the partial or total removal of the female genitalia and can cause a host of health problems.

The Sudanese government approved an amendment to its criminal legislation on 22 April, stating that anyone who performs FGM either inside a medical establishment or elsewhere faces three years’ imprisonment and a fine.

Sudan has criminalised female genital mutilation (FGM), making it punishable by three years in jail, a move campaigners said ushered in a ‘new era’ for women’s rights in the African nation.

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The new regime also repealed its public order act, which tightly restricted women’s freedom of dress, movement, association, work and study during Bashir’s three-decade rule.

This included preventing women from wearing trousers or leaving their hair uncovered in public, or mixing with men other than their husbands or an immediate relative. Those found to have contravened the law could be punished with flogging.

Excellent news! Congratulations to Sudan and to Sudanese women.