Carla Quiñonez's daughter was subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) by her great-grandmother at six months old, resulting in a fever, swelling, and bleeding. In Colombia, where Quiñonez is campaigning against FGM, around 240 cases were recorded between 2020 and June 2026, with the victims mostly under six years old. The practice is now illegal in Colombia following a unanimous vote in Congress, making it the first country in Latin America to ban FGM. Quiñonez herself only realized what was happening within her community as she grew up, having initially been told that girls were dying from an "ancestral illness".
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The article frames the practice of FGM as a dangerous and secretive procedure, using strong language to emphasize its negative consequences ('the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia', 'haemorrhaging and infection', 'complications later in life with periods and during childbirth'). The use of quotes from Quiñonez's grandmother, such as 'men make fun of women who have a clitoris', suggests that some voices are being amplified to highlight the cultural normalization of FGM. However, the tone is overall critical of the practice rather than seeking to justify or downplay its harm.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score +0.55 for article 440 · logged 2026-08-05
- Published
Warning: This story contains descriptions of the practices involved in female genital mutilation
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story → publish → mutilation
In what activists are calling a milestone, Colombia last week became the first country in Latin America where female genital mutilation (FGM) is now illegal.
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mutilation → call → America
As José Carlos Cueto reports, while the bill was passed unanimously in Colombia's Congress, it follows a long battle to eradicate the dangerous and often secretive procedure.
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it → report → procedure
Carla Quiñonez's daughter was just six months old when the baby's great-grandmother subjected her to female genital mutilation (FGM).
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grandmother → subject → mutilation
Quiñonez (not her real name) says when her grandmother returned the baby to her, she had a fever and was swollen and bleeding.
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she → say → fever
She cried constantly.
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She → cry → ?
I confronted my grandmother, but she said it was normal and that I could not tell anyone."
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I → confront → anyone
The nearest health centre was a long journey away, so Quiñonez's mother, a midwife, tried to ease the baby's pain with medicinal plants.
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mother → try → plants
She also challenged Quiñonez's grandmother.
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She → challenge → grandmother
But the older woman would not listen.
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woman → listen → ?
"She said that men make fun of women who have a clitoris."
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who → say → clitoris
FGM in Colombia
FGM involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, as well as other injuries inflicted on those organs for non-medical reasons.
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FGM → involve → reasons
It can cause medical complications, including haemorrhaging and infection, as well as complications later in life with periods and during childbirth.
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It → cause → childbirth
It can also make it difficult for a woman to experience sexual pleasure.
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woman → make → pleasure
The World Health Organization says that around the world more than 230 million girls and women alive today have been cut, predominantly in Africa.
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girls → say → Africa
Quiñonez, 30, has been campaigning to eradicate the practice in Colombia - where it is still practised by members of her Emberá Indigenous community.
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it → campaign → community
Along with fellow activists and members of Colombia's Congress, she played a key role in the campaign which led to the ban.
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which → play → ban
She says it was only as she grew up that she realised what was secretly happening within her community.
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what → say → community
"I always wondered why more girls than boys seemed to die shortly after birth.
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girls → wonder → birth
"I remember a young cousin of mine whose birth was attended by my mother.
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birth → remember → mother
She was born healthy, but died three days later.
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She → bear → ?
I asked my mother about it, and she told me the baby had died from 'jai', an ancestral illness."
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baby → ask → jai
Quiñonez now believes that girls who supposedly died from "jai" actually died from complications related to FGM.
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who → believe → FGM
A paediatrician's perspective
Between 2020 and June 2026, 240 cases of FGM were recorded in Colombia.
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cases → record → Colombia
But paediatrician Diana Ramos Mosquera says she believes this is just "the tip of the iceberg".
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this → say → iceberg
Working at San Jorge University Hospital in Pereira, a city in Colombia's north-west coffee-growing region, she says she's seen signs of scarring, burning and mutilation when examining girls who have come in with other medical conditions.
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who → work → conditions
She recalls one girl who arrived with her vaginal opening sealed shut, meaning she probably would not have been able to menstruate or have sexual intercourse when she reached adulthood.
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she → recall → adulthood
"She had to undergo reconstructive surgery," Dr Ramos says.
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Ramos → have → surgery
She regards FGM as a form of sexual and gender-based violence with lifelong consequences, but says this must be addressed through education, and not just punishment.
"Some members of these communities genuinely believe they are doing no harm," she says.
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she → regard → harm
'Culture does not kill'
With around 300,000 members, the Great Emberá Nation is one of Colombia's largest Indigenous communities, with populations also living in Ecuador and Panama.
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populations → kill → Ecuador
One theory about why members of the community practise FGM, when it's rarely seen elsewhere in Latin America, is that the practice arrived with enslaved people from African countries.
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practice → practise → countries
This could help explain its prevalence in Risaralda, Chocó and Valle del Cauca, neighbouring departments that either are home to, or border, large Afro-Colombian populations.
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that → help → populations
Another theory is that the birth of an intersex child, hundreds of years ago, left the community with a fear of the clitoris - with many older women believing that it will grow into a penis if not cut.
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it → leave → penis
Others think that it stems from the patriarchal belief that a woman with an organ associated with sexual pleasure is more likely to be promiscuous.
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woman → think → pleasure
Whatever its origin, Juliana Domico, the legal representative and chief Indigenous councillor to the National Confederation of the Peoples of the Great Emberá Nation of Colombia, rejects the idea that the practice is cultural.
"
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practice → reject → idea
Our culture is our clothing, our crafts, our dances and our language, not a practice that kills.
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that → kill → ?
Culture does not kill."
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Culture → kill → ?
She says the new law follows years of advocacy work within the community: "We hope the law is translated into public policy, with sufficient resources to implement it."
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law → say → it
Threats and hostility
Quiñonez is one of those who have advocated for change, but says she has received threats because of this - especially from men.
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she → advocate → men
While, traditionally, men are not meant to know about the ritual, conversations about abolishing the practice often only take place with male leaders because many Emberá women speak an indigenous language - also called Emberá - and have not necessarily learned Spanish.
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women → mean → Spanish
…and 13 more, not listed.
