Yesterday, lawmakers in Gambia voted to advance legislation that would legalize female genital cutting.
Yet genital cutting is still on the rise.
Today, 230 million women and girls around the world have been cut, a 15 percent rise from 2016.
In Africa and the Middle East, several countries still permit the practice, and in many others, laws are erratically enforced.
In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain why cutting — which for most communities means removing the clitoris and the labia minora, or almost sealing up the vagina — has been so hard to stamp out.
Locations:
Gambia, Africa, Somalia, Guinea, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Mali, Sierra Leone, Iraq, Yemen, Indonesia, Malaysia