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December 20, 2018

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African girl, 10, dies in genital mutilation op

Source: Agencies | 00:00 UTC+8 December 20, 2018 | Print Edition

A 10-YEAR-OLD girl has died after undergoing female genital mutilation during an initiation into a secret women’s society in Sierra Leone, police said yesterday, sparking renewed calls for the practice to be banned.

Authorities have arrested the woman in charge of initiations as investigations continue, said Amadu Turay, unit commander of the Mile 91 police division, in Sierra Leone’s northern Tonkolili district about 240 kilometers east of Freetown.

“She died of blood loss,” Turay said, adding that it was assumed FGM was the cause.

A local activist said 67 other girls were reported to have been initiated and were awaiting medical examination.

Female genital cutting is widely practiced in the West African nation as part of girls’ initiation into secret societies which wield significant political clout.

Nine in 10 women have been cut in Sierra Leone which has one of the highest rates of FGM in Africa, according to United Nations data. It is one of only a handful of African countries which has not outlawed the internationally condemned practice.

The ritual typically involves the partial or total removal of the female genitalia. The last reported death in Sierra Leone was two years ago, and the victim was 19.

Activists have helped develop a national strategy for FGM reduction but are awaiting government support, said campaigner Rugiatu Turay, former deputy minister of social welfare, gender and children’s affairs.

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