Thomson Reuters Foundation: “Medicalization” of female genital mutilation is serious threat — experts
“A growing trend for midwives and nurses to carry out female genital mutilation (FGM) is undermining global efforts to eradicate the internationally condemned practice, experts have warned. Morissanda Kouyate head of the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices called for courts to get tough on health workers convicted of carrying out FGM. He also urged professional medical and health associations to expel members who repeatedly perform FGM. ‘Medicalization is one of the biggest threats against the program to eliminate FGM,’ Kouyate told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Rome ahead of international FGM awareness day on Monday…” (Batha, 2/6).

U.N. News Centre: U.N. urges renewed fight to end female genital mutilation as populations grow where practice occurs
“Female genital mutilation denies women and girls their dignity and causes needless pain and suffering, with consequences that endure for a lifetime and can even be fatal, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has said, stressing that the U.N. Sustainable Development Agenda promises an end to this practice by 2030. ‘On this Day of Zero Tolerance, let us build on positive momentum and commit to intensifying global action against this heinous human rights violation for the sake of all affected women and girls, their communities and our common future,’ the secretary general said in a message on the International Day, marked annually on 6 February to strengthen momentum towards ending the practice of female genital mutilation, globally recognized as a violation of the human rights of girls and women…” (2/6).