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"There can be no anthropological justification or mitigation of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) on the basis that it is the expression of a particular culture", believes the Children's Commissioner, Helen D'Amato, who expressed her views on the subject with The Malta Independent.
"While cultural mores and practices are to be respected, however different they are from our own, fundamental human rights should always prevail over any cultural practice that offends the dignity and well-being of the human person, especially those of the most vulnerable, as are children," she highlighted.
The Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties Ministry too endorses measures that combat or ban this practice, given that female genital mutilation is a form of gender-based violence against women and girls and a violation of women's human rights which runs in direct opposition to principles of equality between women and men, and which may have short or long term negative effects on women's health.