Lagos – Ms Sarah Sewall, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, on Friday urged Africans to realise that genital cutting was harmful to girls/women’s health.
Sewall, who made the appeal in a teleconference with journalists from across Africa, said it was time for Africans to shun such practice and “move into modern world.’’
According to her, about 95 per cent of African girls and women have been subjected to some form of cuttings and genital mutilations.
“We believe that girls and women have to be able to live their lives as beings, just like boys and men in our communities.
“That means that, they need to have their health and physical integrity.
“Therefore, cutting them and mutilating them in ways that jeopardise their health and futures cannot be excused as a tradition or a cultural practice.
“Mutilation or cutting of these girls and women, apart from being unsafe for them, is also a very harmful practice that must be discouraged’’, she said.
Sewall also said that it was important for Africans to be educated on the negative consequences of mutilation and cuttings on African girls and women.
The scribe said that it was imperative for people, irrespective of their race, colour or religion, to recognise that humanity and human rights accompany their existence.
The U.S. official said she was particularly committed to educating men and women about the harmful effects of the practice on girls and women.
“I am really committed to doing everything I can to help educate men and women about the harmful effects.
“There is the need to really put issues of girls and women in our national development programmes.
“This will be good for women and girls, families, as well as being essential to the future progress of Africans’’, she said. (NAN)