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Nigerian bans FGM

Ex Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan signed a measure last week that criminalizes female genital mutilation (FGM), in one of his last official acts before handing over the country’s top office to Muhammadu Buhari, the International Business Times reported Sunday.

This 2013 version of the bill sets out a maximum punishment of four years in prison and a US$1,000 fine for carrying out FGM, BuzzFeed reported.

According to 2014 U.N. data, the practice causes infertility, maternal death, infections, and the loss of sexual pleasure. And according to various international bodies such as the World Health Organization it is considered a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

In Nigeria, the U.N. data adds, around a quarter of Nigerian women have undergone FGM procedures, the country having the highest absolute number of cases in the world. Globally, more than 125 million girls and women are thought to have undergone some form of FGM, with the majority concentrated in Africa according to a 2013 study by Unicef.    

The law has been highly regarded as a step in the right direction, but many analysts have said that implementation of the new legislation still presents a challenge for eliminating the culturally and socially ingrained practice. Writing for The Guardian, Stella Mukasa, director of gender, violence, and rights at the International Center for Research on Women, stated that “while legal safeguards are an important step towards ending FGM, they are not enough to eliminate it. Ending violence against women and girls requires investment, not just laws written in statute books.”

In addition to banning FGM, the new legislation also prohibits forceful ejections from home, harmful widowhood practices, the abandonment of dependents without sustenance, battery, and harmful traditional practices.

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