By Nita Bhalla
NAIROBI, Jan 19 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A Kenyan doctor is seeking to legalise female genital mutilation (FGM), arguing that a ban on the internationally condemned practice is unconstitutional and that adult women should be allowed to do what they want with their bodies.
Tatu Kamau filed a petition in the Machakos High Court in eastern Kenya on Wednesday claiming that women are being harassed and arrested for undergoing FGM.
“If women can decide to drink, to smoke, women can join the army, women can do all sorts of things that might bring them harm or injury, and yet they are allowed to make that decision,” Kamau told Kenya Television News (KTN).
“I think that even for the decision of female circumcision, a woman can make that decision. And once she has made that decision, she should be able to access the best medical care to have it done.”
