Senegal says no to mutilation

2003-09-23 19:10

Dakar - More than 1 000 villages in Senegal have agreed to end the controversial practice of female genital mutilation, the United Nations children's agency Unicef said on Tuesday.

The renunciations of the traditional rite of passage have come in a series of recent ceremonies, said Unicef's representative in Senegal, Ian Hopwood.

"Local chiefs and religious leaders to decided to abandon the practice," said Hopwood by phone from the capital Dakar.

Sometimes known as female circumcision, the practice involves cutting off a girl's clitoris. Campaigners condemn it as a brutal violation of girl's rights, yet it persists in dozens of countries, primarily in Africa.

Senegal's government has banned female genital mutilation but it and Unicef have found it effective to encourage influential local leaders to speak out against the practice.

Hopman described the most recent ceremony, which took place last weekend, as "very moving."

- SAPA