The Ogun State Government in south-west Nigeria says it is ready to enforce the existing law which prohibits female genital mutilation.
The enforcement of the law will give a bite to the effort towards eliminating the menace from communities still practicing it, just as the state is proposing a bill on domestic violence before the State House of Assembly.
This decision of the government was made known by the State Commissioner For Women Affairs and Social Development,Elizabeth Sonunbi, at a press briefing marking 2014 16 day of activism on the elimination of violence against women, held in Abeokuta,the state capital
While enlisting the support of religious,community leaders,and leaders of thoughts in the state ,the commissioner said the laws made female genital mutilation an offence with one year imprisonment for anybody found guilty
Female genital mutilation is a common practice in Ogun State which is the reason for the enactment of the female genital mutilation prohibition law in the state
According to the World Health Organization, 150 million women are affected by female genital mutilation.
Female Genital Mutilation (often referred to as FGM) is an operation, during which the female genitals are partly or entirely removed or injured with the goal of inhibiting a woman’s sexual feelings.
It is mostly carried out in Africa, in particular in North-Eastern, Eastern and Western Africa. However, it also takes place in the Middle East, in South-East Asia – and also among immigrants in Europe.
