2009 Press Releases

United States Embassy Statement on Zero Tolerance of FGM Day

 

 

Freetown

Contact: PAO Danna Van Brandt

Tel: 022-515-000 or 076-515-000

February 06,2009

 

The United States Government stands with the people of Sierra Leone in their battle to safeguard the health and lives of all women in the country.  Women face numerous threats to their health in their daily lives – with infant and maternal mortality among the highest in the world and basic women’s health care often financially out of reach.  It is a tragedy that another threat to their health is needlessly added by dangerous practices.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a harmful procedure that threatens the health and human rights of women and hinders their development. Medical experts note that FGM endangers the health of women and girls in Sierra Leone, and is sometimes practiced on girls as young as five.  In December 2005, Sierra Leone signed the Dakar Declaration, committing to enact legislation making the practice illegal.  In 2007, the Child Rights Act made it illegal to forcefully subject anyone under the age of 18 to FGM.  This progress is laudable, but more must be done to strengthen the law and to enforce it.

The United States has supported activities to eliminate FGM around the world, including in Sierra Leone, teaching health care providers and practitioners about the long-term implications of FGM and training practitioners so they may obtain alternate sources of income.

The United States Embassy implores the people of Sierra Leone to put the health of women and children ahead of preserving harmful traditional practices.  The mothers, sisters, and daughters of Sierra Leone deserve to be protected from unnecessary threats to their health and merit the opportunity to become fully productive citizens of the world.
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