Sudanese activists skeptical female genital mutilation law will stop practice
Sudanese activists told Al-Monitor that female circumcision continues in rural communities and that laws prevent women's rights.
Sudan reportedly made female genital mutilation illegal in late April, drawing praise from the international community. But some female activists in the African country say this will not lead to the end of the harmful practice.
One Sudanese leader of a civil society organization working for women’s rights said that the state is duping the outside world on the issue in the same way it did under deposed former ruler Omar al-Bashir.
“This is a way to maneuver and raise expectations,” Hala al-Karib, regional director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, told Al-Monitor. “It’s misleading the international community with the same tools as Bashir.”
Several female activists in Sudan feel the law is not sufficient to stop female genital mutilation in the country, where it is still widely practiced.
