Posted by carmin on January 02, 1998 at 22:11:35:
This, just in from slate.com:
Egypt's supreme court upheld a ban on female genital mutilation. The country's health minister banned the practice (removal of the clitoris and sometimes the labia, often by family members using razors or knives) in 1996. Traditionalists went to court, but the court rejected their argument that Islamic law authorizes mutilation "as an individual right" beyond the reach of government. Advocates of women's rights think the ruling will help defeat the practice elsewhere, because Muslim countries regard Egypt as an authority on Islam.