"Since I was a child, that deep wound left in my body has never healed."
So wrote Nawal El Saadawi in her memoir in reference to the traumatic procedure of female genital mutilation that she experienced at the age of 6 and that scarred her for life.
Egyptian parliament approves tougher penalties for female genital mutilation
Egypt's parliament has given preliminary approval to a bill stipulating tougher penalties for female genital mutilation, which remains widespread despite an official ban on the practice. The move coincided with the death of feminist author Nawal El Saadawi, who fought long and hard for an end to the procedure from which she herself suffered as a child.
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