New treatment can help FGM survivors

There has been a notable development in the treatment of damaged clitorises, which could go a long way in transforming the lives of girls and women who have experienced female genital mutilation (FGM).

It happened in Sweden, at the Karolinska Hospital Reconstructive Surgery. Here, Hannes Sigurjónsson, a resident within the reconstructive plastic surgery department, developed the possibly landmark method.

In an interview with Vice magazine, he said that the surgery, although positive, is "only one step on the female's road to recovery".

"The method is being developed and is getting better with time, research and experience," he went on to say.

"But it will always be hard to restore someone's mutilated genitals 100 per cent."

There are thought to be up to 38,000 females in Sweden who have experienced FGM, 7,000 of those are children. The demand therefore, says Sigurjónsson, for this kind of treatment will be high.

FGM is an offence in Sweden, punishable by a prison sentence. This has been the case since 1982 but in 2013, the government extended the law to include procedures carried out abroad.