Colombia has enacted legislation making female genital mutilation (FGM) illegal, becoming the first country in Latin America to formally ban the practice. The law, passed unanimously by Colombia's Congress, follows years of advocacy led largely by activists from the Emberá (one of Colombia's largest Indigenous communities, with around 300,000 members), where FGM has been practised for generations, with some girls subjected to the procedure before they are six months old. Campaigners and health workers warn that official figures — 240 recorded cases between 2020 and mid-2026 — represent only a fraction of actual cases, and are calling on the government to back the new law with education programmes and sufficient resources to ensure meaningful enforcement.