Experts tell JOY FM that practitioners of FGM are smuggling their children outside of Ghana for the procedure

The UN has mandated February 6th as of Zero Tolerance For FGM Day. FGM entails a partial or total removal of the clitoris from the female organ. Practitioners believe it reduces promiscuity in women, but the practice has serious health implications for victims. Under the Ghanaian constitution of 1994, FGM is considered prohibited as a "customary practice" that is considered dehumanizing and "injurious to the physical and mental well-being of a person." In addition, the Criminal Code in 1994 officially criminalized the practice and listed FGM as a second-degree felony. This all reads very well on paper, but statistics show that the FGM rates in Ghana still hover around 9 - 15 percent. How exactly does one legislate against a traditional practice that simply won't die?

JOY NEWS' Evans Mensah spoke to the head of the Women's Dept. at the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs on the Newsnight Programme to find out why the legislation against FGM is ineffective and if there are any alternative ways of phasing out the practice.