Three quarters of women among India’s Dawoodi Bohra sect have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), according to a study published on Monday which comes just weeks after government officials said there was no data to support its existence. Campaigners were shocked in December when the women’s ministry told the court there was no official data or study supporting its existence. FGM is more commonly linked to a swathe of African countries where cutters may remove all external genitalia. The practice made headlines in 2015 when three members of the Bohra diaspora in Australia were convicted of FGM-related offences. Respondents to the survey said Bohra girls from diaspora communities were now travelling to India to be cut.

Source: Dhaka Tribune February 05, 2018 14:48 UTC