LONDON (AP) – Actress Freida Pinto of “Slumdog Millionaire” fame has joined forces with girls’ rights campaigners in calling for an end to the practice of female genital mutilation.
The Indian actress, an ambassador for an international children’s development organization, called for more progress to abolish the practice and end child marriages as she addressed Britain’s inaugural “Girl Summit.”
UNICEF, the United Nations’ children agency, said some progress has been made on ending female genital mutilation, most commonly practiced in Africa and the Middle East. It is still highly prevalent in Egypt, Sudan, Mali and Somalia.
Britain’s government announced new measures to tackle the problems in the U.K., including prosecution for parents if they fail to prevent their daughters from being subjected to the practice.