KUALA LUMPUR: The women, family and community development ministry and the health ministry are discussing female genital mutilation (FGM) in Malaysia, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said today.
“If it doesn’t give any benefit, then we should do something about it,” she told reporters at the Parliament lobby.
Wan Azizah, who is also women, family and community development minister, said though FGM is seen as a cultural practice in Malaysia, it is not the same as the practice in Africa.
She was asked to comment on the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) statement yesterday that Putrajaya had misled the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on human rights on FGM when it defended the practice on infants, saying it was a “cultural obligation” in Malaysia.