Sudan has criminalized female genital mutilation (FGM) and imposed a three-year prison sentence for offenders, according to a newly amended law.
The procedure is the cutting or removal of a female's external genitalia. It often involves the removal or cutting of the labia and clitoris.
The amendment to the criminal law was approved on 22 April, the Reuters news agency reports.
Sudan is one of the African nations where FGM is believed to be highly prevalent.
The procedure is practiced in at least 27 African countries, according to the United Nations Population Fund.
But it has been prohibited in numerous other countries including Kenya, Mauritania, Mali, Liberia, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Niger and Nigeria.
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