The Malta Confederation of Women’s Organisations welcomed the initiative taken by Labour MP Chris Fearne to table a Private Members’ Bill for a law banning female genital mutilation.
The tabling of the bill“is in keeping with the provisions of the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence”, the confederation said in a statement.
Female genital mutilation, which involves the partial or total removal or alteration of the external female genital organs for non-medical reasons, is considered a form of violence against women and girls.
It is mostly done on young girls between infancy and the age of 15.