Official Calls On AU Leaders to Condemn Female Mutilation

July 25, 2005 – (Angola Press Agency) The chairperson of Woman Network Organisation, Júlia Ornelas, today in Luanda called on African Union (AU) member countries to avoid violation of human rights and female sexual mutilation practised on the continent.

Mrs Ornelas, who was speaking at the opening session of African Woman Journey, said that it is urgent and immediate that the AU condemns every practice of women and human rights violation.
The chairwoman said that culture is either of men or women, that is why it cannot be used to justify the violation of the population's basic rights.

"We demand the condemnation of female sexual mutilation, which is a practice that is still affecting million of young girls across the African continent", she affirmed.

From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200507251354.html