In Uganda it is illegal to carry out genital mutilation or discriminate against any woman who hasn't had it done |
Five men
and women in Uganda have been jailed for mutilating the genitals of girls, a
rare conviction in the country which is trying to stamp out the often deadly
practice.
The five,
including those who carried out the mutilation -- which can range from hacking
off the clitoris to the removal of the entire female genitalia -- were arrested
in eastern Uganda's Kapchorwa district last week.
All pleaded
guilty to aiding or procuring female genital mutilation (FGM), which was
outlawed in 2010. They were jailed for four years, according to the Daily
Monitor newspaper.
Uganda's
law makes it a crime to not only carry out FGM or participate in any event
leading to its practice, but also to discriminate against a woman who hasn't
had it done.
While
dozens of arrests have been made since the law's introduction, there have been
few prosecutions.
Police
spokesman Fred Enanga said although the practice was "dying out" in
some regions, it was still considered "a tradition" in Kapchorwa
district and many continued to practise in secret.
"The
law has created fear within communities, you won?t find them having these
cultural days where families bring out their girls," he told AFP. "It
is no longer a cultural event like male circumcision."
Florence
Auma from the UN population fund UNFPA, which campaigns to end FGM, said any
arrests and convictions were welcome.
"It
shows the law is catching up with them and they're implementing the law,"
she said.
Apart from
the intense pain itself, immediate dangers include bleeding and infection. In
the longer term, risks include infertility and complications during childbirth,
sometimes resulting in the death of the baby.
Earlier
this month UN chief Ban Ki-moon launched a global campaign to end FGM within a
generation.
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