Gambia lawmakers refer bill reversing 2015 female genital mutilation ban to national committee
Gambian lawmakers referred a bill attempting to reverse the Women’s (Amendment) Act, 2015 to the national committee for further consultation on Monday. The Women’s (Amendment) Act, 2015 bans female genital mutilation (FGM). Local activists gathered outside the National Assembly of The Gambia on Monday with protest signs to boycott the bill. FGM is a practice [...]
UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), a UN agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide, released a report Friday on International Women’s Day alleging that more than 230 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM), an increase of 30 million or 15 percent compared with [...]
UK criminal court hands down sentence in landmark female genital mutilation case
The UK Central Criminal Court handed down its sentence Friday in the landmark female genital mutilation (FGM) case against defendant Amina Noor for carrying out an FGM procedure on a UK citizen oversees, sentencing Noor to 7 years imprisonment. The victim of the crime, under the alias of Jade for her protection, was three years [...]
Leaders and advocacy groups support International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM
International leaders and advocacy groups recognized Sunday the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Responding to a UNICEF report released earlier this week which found COVID-19 slowed progress towards ending FGM, the international community banded together to show continuing support to end FGM across the globe. World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General [...]
UN agencies: COVID-19 pandemic could reverse decades of progress to end female genital mutilation
UN agencies warned Thursday that the COVID-19 pandemic could reverse decades of global progress in stamping out female genital mutilation. The warning comes just days before the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on February 6. The World Health Organization has defined female genital mutilation as involving the partial or total removal [...]
UN rights expert: COVID-19 distracting from 'pandemic of femicide and gender-based violence'
UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women Dubravka Šimonovic said Monday that a “pandemic of femicide and gender-based violence against women is taking the lives of women and girls everywhere.” Her announcement comes two days prior to the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. This day has been recognized since 1981, and [...]
UN study: gender-related violence increasing as COVID-19 lockdown continues
In a study released MONDAY by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and some of its partners, experts showed that gender-related violence has risen while and access to family planning has decreased. This study found that nearly 50 million women across 114 countries are projected to be without access to modern contraceptives if the COVID-19 shutdown [...]
Federal judge finds female genital mutilation ban unconstitutional
A judge for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on Tuesday dismissed the case against Jumana Nagarwala, a doctor accused of performing female genital mutilation on at least 9 girls, finding the federal ban unconstitutional. The government brought this case against the doctor and seven other defendants including three additional medical [...]
The Chilean Congress passed a bill late Wednesday night that would would allow abortions in instances of rape, threat to the mother's health, and fetal abnormality "incompatible with life." The 70...
UK Supreme Court rules women from Northern Ireland not entitled to free abortions
The UK Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that women from Northern Ireland are not entitled to abortions under the England's National Health Services (NHS) . In a 3-2 decision, judges dismissed the appeal of a...
