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COVID-19 creates ‘fertile ground’ for genital cutting in Africa

COVID-19 creates ‘fertile ground’ for genital cutting in Africa

WHEN Margaret heard the family making plans for her genital cutting ceremony last August, the 15-year-old Kenyan schoolgirl knew there was no room for negotiation. Her school in rural, western Kenya had been closed for five months due to the pandemic, and with no certainty when classes would resume, Margaret's parents decided she should wed. "They wanted me to be cut so I could be married and they would get dowry," Margaret told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from a temporary foster home in West Pokot county, which borders Uganda. "They didn't listen when I told them I wanted…
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