[Editorial] Changing culture to end FGM (Lancet)

When Ellen Johnson Sirleaf retired last month after 12 years in office in Liberia, she signed an executive order banning female genital mutilation (FGM) in the country for girls younger than 18 years. Her profile as Africa`s first female president and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for efforts to advance women`s rights and peace ensured her executive order got international media attention, thus shining needed light on a devastating practice. Globally, a staggering 200 million women and girls have undergone FGM, and UNICEF estimates that more than one in three girls between 15 and 19 years of age are currently affected.