TAMSIN BRADLEY, Professor of International Development Studies, University of Portsmouth Sudan’s transitional government recently announced a nationwide ban on female genital mutilation. A 2014 survey backed by the United Nations estimated 87% of Sudanese women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 had been subjected to the practice. Most undergo an extreme form known as infibulation. Tamsin Bradley sets out the context in which the ban was announced and the prospects for change under the reformist government. How widespread is female genital mutilation in Sudan? Female genital mutilation, or cutting, is widespread in Sudan. The practice is also…