Pope Francis affirmed this Sunday that female genital mutilation “humiliates the dignity of women” and affects “about 3 million young people” each year, recalling from the Vatican the International Day of Zero Tolerance against this practice.
“Today marks the International Day against Female Genital Mutilation. There are nearly 3 million young women who undergo this intervention every year, often in very dangerous conditions for their health,” said the pontiff after the recitation of the Angelus from the Vatican Apostolic Palace.
“This widespread practice in various regions of the world humiliates the dignity of women and seriously threatens their physical integrity,” added Jorge Bergoglio.
On the other hand, the pope condemned human trafficking and summoned the faithful to the world day of prayer and reflection scheduled for next Tuesday.
Trafficking, for the pontiff, “is a wound infected by the shameful pursuit of economic interests of the human person.”
“So many young women we see on the street who are not free, who send them to work and if they do not bring the money, they beat them. Today this happens in our cities,” Francis denounced, referring to human trafficking for sexual exploitation. .
