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Georgia to make female genital mutilation criminal offense

Xinhua, January 24, 2017 Adjust font size:

Female genital mutilation will be punished by criminal law, Georgia's Ministry of Justice announced Tuesday.

The relevant draft amendments had been presented by the Georgian government to the parliament on Tuesday.

The package of amendments applies to about 20 laws. Article 1332 will be added to the Criminal Code of Georgia, which provides for the criminalization of female genital mutilation.

According to the amendments, female genital mutilation or coercion of a woman to carry out this rite on grounds of national, ethnic or other traditions or without any such pressure will be punished by criminal law. The same offense in relation to pregnant or disabled women will be regarded as an aggravating circumstance.

The criminalization of such actions is particularly important as a number of such cases has been recently revealed in the country, said Georgia's Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani. Endi