Colombia bans female genital mutilation in Latin America first

Colombia became the first country in Latin America to outlaw female genital mutilation (FGM) after Congress unanimously passed a ban in late July 2026. FGM involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia for non-medical reasons. The new law marks a milestone in a campaign to end the secretive practice, which activists say has caused deaths and lifelong harm in the Emberá Indigenous community. Carla Quiñonez, a 30-year-old Emberá woman who campaigned for the ban, recounted how her own daughter was subjected to FGM at just six months old. The great-grandmother performed the cutting. When the infant was returned, she had a fever, was swollen and bleeding, and cried constantly. Quiñonez’s mother, a midwife, tried to ease the pain with medicinal plants because the nearest health center was far away. But the great-grandmother insisted the cutting was normal and warned Quiñonez not to tell anyone. Later, Quiñonez faced threats and judgmental treatment from hospital staff when she sought care for her daughter’s urinary tract infection. A nurse called her a “savage” and said she deserved what happened, and she was threatened with having her child taken away by welfare authorities. Since then, she has preferred to treat her daughter at home with plants and medication, never leaving her side.