Female circumcision

[amalgamate]

well that's a plus.

[Al-khiyal]

Female genital mutilation persists in Mauritania

April 8, 2011 -- In an effort to press the Mauritanian government into banning female genital mutilation (FGM), human rights activists, educators and religious leaders met in Nouakchott for a three-day forum that ended on Wednesday (April 6th). A 2005 draft law was debated last year in the National Assembly. "We are still waiting for this bill to be validated," said forum speaker Aissata Niang. With regard to the religious aspect of the practice, Mohamed Vall Ould Haye from the Association of Mauritanian Imams pointed out, "Nowhere in the Qur'an is the practice of excision mentioned. It is a sunnah and therefore not compulsory." Last year, Mauritanian Islamic leaders and the association of ulema signed a fatwa against FGM. According to the UN, 65 percent of Mauritanian girls have been subject to FGM. In some areas, the number is 72 percent.