Ban on Female Genital Cutting in Somaliland is progress, but success relies on working with religious leaders

Somaliland, the unrecognized self-governing region of Somalia, is known for two things: its relatively stable government, and its staggering rate of female genital cutting (FGC). In early February authorities in the Somaliland Ministry of Religious Affairs issued a fatwa against FGC and stated that victims should be compensated. The fatwa was issued on the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation,* and parliament is expected to vote on a bill outlawing the practice in the coming months.

While this fatwa and the legal force it carries is an excellent step to eliminate FGC in Somaliland, it is by no means a comprehensive solution. An estimated 98 percent of women 15 to 49 in the republic have undergone the procedure. Predating Christianity and Islam, FGC is a deeply entrenched cultural practice reinforced by economic, political, and social structures across the Middle East and North Africa, effecting 200 million women worldwide.

Read full article here.

Cookies

We distinguish the following types of cookies based on their purposes:

  • Essential/ Strictly Necessary Cookies:

    These cookies are necessary to enable the website to function and cannot be disabled in our systems. They are usually set in response to actions made by you, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in, or filling out forms. They are essential for effective communication and facilitate navigation (for example, returning to a previous page, etc.).

  • Non-Essential Cookies:

    These cookies are not essential for the website to function, but they help us provide an improved and personalized website experience.

    • » Functional cookies:

      These cookies enable the website to offer enhanced functionality and personalization. They can be set by us or by external partners whose services we have added to our pages.

    • » Analytical cookies:

      These cookies allow us to track visits and traffic, enabling us to measure and improve the performance of our website. They help us understand which pages are the most and least popular and how visitors navigate the site.

    • » Targeting / advertising / marketing cookies:

      These cookies may be set through our website by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant advertisements on other sites.

We utilize both our own cookies and cookies from carefully selected partners with whom we collaborate.


Want to know more?

Take a look at our Cookie policy and our Privacy policy .

This website uses cookies to store settings and collect statistics. If you click the "Allow all" button, you are giving us permission to use all cookie types.

If you want more detailed information or to be able to set your own preferences, please use the "Customize" button.
Cookie image