Rome (Fides Service) - In 1997, 13 villages in Senegal said publicly they would no longer allow female circumcision or female genital mutilation (FGM). In the 8 years since then the number of communities which have banned FGM has grown to 1,527 or 30% of all villages in Senegal.
At present 12 more villages are preparing to make a similar statement in the coming months. This change of mentality in Senegal is due to a slow but constant programme of education in human rights to encourage village people to decide on their own to ban FGM. The programme applied with success also in Guinea, Burkina Faso and Mali, is at the stage of elaboration in Somalia, where 100% of girls suffer the violation of FGM . (AP) (26/4/2005 Agenzia Fides; Righe:14 Parole:147)