Ghana: Woman Sentenced for Circumcisions

A judge in northern Ghana has sentenced a 70-year-old woman to five years in prison for violating a ban on circumcising girls, saying the tough sentence should deter an "outmoded custom." Ghana in 1994 outlawed the practice of cutting away parts of girls' sexual organs, but the long-held rite of passage has continued in parts of West Africa, mostly in rural areas where education campaigns are only beginning to reach largely illiterate and highly traditional populations. Prosecution is rare, throughout West Africa.