Dear John,

Last month, the Legislative Arm of Government in Liberia backtracked on efforts to criminalise Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the country.

They deleted sections from the proposed Domestic Violence Bill (2014) that had sought to outlaw the practice. This demonstrates the lack of political will necessary to protect women and girls from harm and the institution’s problematic approach towards issues of women and girls’ rights.

Ending harmful practices including FGM and child marriage are a key component of the Sustainable Development Goals which contain a specific target to end this practice by 2030. Liberia also has obligations under international law, most notably the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa ('the Maputo Protocol') which it has been a party to since 2007, and is also part of a continental initiative that calls on African Union Members States to urgently enact and implement strong legislative frameworks to end FGM.

However, Liberia’s efforts to end FGM have been far from sufficient.

Other than the ban that was enforced last year (2018) by former President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson prohibiting the practice for one year, there is no law in Liberia that expressly criminalizes FGM. And while more than 50 percent of girls and women in Liberia have undergone the practice, no perpetrator has been prosecuted for inflicting female genital mutilation on girls and women.

Join us in calling on President George Weah, the Legislative Arm of Government and all other Government agencies to take urgent and necessary steps to enact and enforce a comprehensive law that bans FGM and imposes tough penalties on actors.

In Solidarity,

Flavia Mwangovya

Global Lead, Harmful Practices