On March 4, 2024, Chandra Ingram (JD 2025) and Marilynn Escún Yac (JD 2024), two of the students of the International Human Rights Center, and Megan Mars (JD 2023), a recent alumna of LLS, presented to the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights a civil society parallel report to Sierra Leone. The report was jointly prepared by the IHRC, Science for Democracy, and Desert Flower Africa. The report focused on the elimination of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Sierra Leone, which comes under the purview of the Covenant (Articles 3, 10, 12, and 15). Their presentation highlighted the dangerous practice and effects of FGM, including the recent deaths of young women in 2024 following the FGM procedure. Their presentation recommended criminalizing FGM in Sierra Leone and provided impactful community-based approaches to reduce social stigma around women’s sexual purity that reinforces the harmful practice.
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