Story perspectives

Colombia First Latin America to Ban Female Genital Mutilation

8/5/2026

Summary

Story summary

Colombia’s Congress unanimously passed a bill that makes the country the first in Latin America to outlaw female genital mutilation.
Activist Carla Quiñonez (pseudonym) said her six-month-old daughter suffered fever, swelling, bleeding and constant crying after the infant’s great-grandmother performed FGM.
Quiñonez’s mother, a midwife, used medicinal plants to soothe the baby and confronted the grandmother, who claimed the procedure was normal and that men mock women without a clitoris.

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Story summary

Colombia’s Congress unanimously passed a bill that makes the country the first in Latin America to outlaw female genital mutilation.
Activist Carla Quiñonez (pseudonym) said her six-month-old daughter suffered fever, swelling, bleeding and constant crying after the infant’s great-grandmother performed FGM.
Quiñonez’s mother, a midwife, used medicinal plants to soothe the baby and confronted the grandmother, who claimed the procedure was normal and that men mock women without a clitoris.