British prosecutors have announced their first prosecutions under a law barring female genital mutilation.
Prosecutors alleged on Friday that Dhanoun Dharmasena, a doctor at north London’s Whittington Hospital, repaired such a procedure on a woman who had given birth. Another man, Hasan Mohamed, faces one charge of intentionally encouraging an offence of female genital mutilation.
Female genital mutilation intentionally altering or injuring female genital organs for non-medical reasons has been a crime in England and Wales since 1985. The World Health Organization estimates that 125 million girls have been affected in the 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East. — AP
