Reuters news services reported earlier in the month that a 23-day old girl bled to death in Niger after a her clitoris and part of her vagina were removed by a traditional healer as part of a female genital mutilation requested by the parents. The baby girl died in the village of Dungass in an area where genital mutilation is common.
In Niger, genital mutilation is currently legal, although a new law will soon go into effect outlawing the practice; the new law provides for up to 3 years in jail, with 10-20 year sentences if the victim dies.
Unfortunately the law wasn’t in place soon enough to save this little girl. For more information about the horrific practice of female genital mutilation, visit Rising Daughters Aware and ForwardUSA.Org.
Source:
Baby girl in Niger dies after genital mutilation. Reuters, August 4, 2000.