But the worst, she told him, was when the excision was done. She told me she would never forget that pain. And she was sixty-five years old. Circumcision has nothing to do with religion. The ancient practice, usually carried out on girls aged around 10, continues to be widespread in Egypt, where 97 percent of Muslim and Christian women are circumcised, according to a study released in February.
Supporters say excision is important to quell sexual desire before marriage.
The Sengalese government yesterday banned female circumcision, the surgical mutilation of female genital organs, an official communiqu said here. The practice, which affects an estimated 130 million African and Asian woman according to to the United Nations Children's Fund, will be punishable by one to five years in prison. During the age-old operation, all or part of the clitoris and sometimes the labia are removed. In Senegal, some 700,000 women have had the operation. The Board of Immigration Appeals granted the petition of Adelaide Abankwah on the ground thaty she had good reason to genital cutting if she returned to her native Ghana.