A complaint was lodged against the Malian state a few days ago in Abuja, Nigeria, before the ECOWAS court. Four associations for the defense of women’s rights demanding a ban on excision in Mali.
More than 80% of Malian women undergo excision, according to UN figures.
A sexual mutilation of which practice is gradually declining but too little for these four associations, national and international, to lodge a complaint with the ECOWAS court for Mali to honor its international commitments.
Among them is the Malia Association for the Development of Women’s Rights as chair of Bintou Diawara. “Mali has ratified all conventions relating to women’s and children’s rights and is committed to harmonizing these texts with our national laws. But it was not done. However, it is time for all neighboring countries in the sub-region to have laws except Mali. In countries that have these laws, children are sent to Mali to have them cut off. ”
Why does Mali take so long to legislate, both on excision and on all gender-based violence, despite its commitments? Bintou Diawara’s response: “It is the importance of religion and tradition, a customary practice not found in the Qur’an. But some religious say it is a sunnah [un hadith, NDLR] of the Prophet, others say it is voluntary. In any case, there are no points of conformity. There is this blockage when it comes to the adoption of the law. ”
With this complaint, women’s rights organizations hope to force the Malian state to criminalize, as it has already done, female genital mutilation.
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