Samstag, 02.05.2020 / 10:00 Uhr

Sudan verbietet Genitalverstümmelung

Von
Thomas von der Osten-Sacken

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(Bildquelle: UNICEF)

 

Im Sudan sind laut vorliegenden Zahlen bis zu 90% aller Frauen genitalverstümmelt und bislang weigerten sich Regierungen in Khartoum gegen diese Praxis vorzugehen, unter anderem auch weil der einflussreiche Klerus FGM als religiöse Pflicht verteidigte.

Damit ist nun Schluss, als eines der letzten Länder in Afrika erließ die neue sudanische Regierung endlich ein Verbot von FGM:

Sudan’s new government has outlawed the practice of female genital mutilation, a move hailed as a major victory by women’s rights campaigners in a country where the often dangerous practice is widespread.

The United Nations estimates that nearly nine in 10 Sudanese women have been subjected to the most invasive form of the practice, which involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia and leads to health and sexual problems that can be fatal.

Now, anyone in Sudan who performs female genital mutilation faces a possible three-year prison term and a fine under an amendment to Sudan’s criminal code approved last week by the country’s transitional government, which came to power only last year following the ouster of longtime dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

“This is a massive step for Sudan and its new government,” said Nimco Ali of the Five Foundation, an organization that campaigns for an end to genital mutilation globally. “Africa cannot prosper unless it takes care of girls and women. They are showing this government has teeth.”