The government of Niger has set heavy penalties of six months to three years imprisonment for persons found guilty of practising female genital mutilation, according to a revised criminal code draft. If case the mutilations resulted in death, the perpetrator faces 10-20 years imprisonment. The penalties are applied to the maximum if the FGM performer is a member of the medical or paramedical profession, the criminal code says. The perpetrator may also be banned from practising for a period not exceeding five years. Presently, Malian law does not punish perpetrators and accomplices of female circumcision even though the practice has tragic consequences.
Female circumcision comprises cutting off the woman's partial or entire external genital organ.
Female genital mutilation is still practised in Niger, despite the efforts by health services and organisations involved in efforts to eradicate traditional practices harmful to health, many surveys in the country indicate. The survey notes that the practice is particularly done in ethnic groups like the Peulh, Gourmantche, Djerma-Songhai, Kurtey, Arabs and Wogo. People in regions where the practice is rampant give various reasons including Islam to justify their tradition. But many Muslim scholars reject the notion by arguing that there is in fact no text in the Quoran concerning the practice. In some ethnic groups, female circumcision is a form of initiation rite for young girls.