It is a remarkable moment for anti-Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) campaigners and we have our lawmakers to thank for it. On Thursday, Parliament passed a new law that outlaws and criminalises the gruesome practice.

This law is not just a victory for gender rights activists; it will, if implemented, grant a much-needed freedom for numerous young women from undergoing this culturally sanctioned brutality.

The dangers of FGM, practiced mainly in the Sabiny and Pokot communities are grave, and well known. The health implications on women are life-long, largely as a result of the humiliating procedure that involves either removing the clitoris or cutting away all of the woman's external genitalia-often carried out in non-sterile conditions using crude household implements.

FGM grossly violates human rights norms and incapacitates women's chances of enjoying healthy marital relationships. Studies show that the procedure raises the likelihood of mother and baby dying as a result of childbirth-related complications, often leaving women in long-term physical and psychological pain. Under the new law, perpetrators of FGM face a maximum of a 10-year jail term while those who commit aggravated FGM-where death occurs as a result of the act; a victim suffers disability or is infected with HIV virus-face life imprisonment.

This, indeed, is a milestone in the fight for human rights. Under international law, states are under obligation to prevent and punish violence against women. For passing this vital piece of legislation, we applaud Parliament for recognising that the rights of women-as human rights framework affirms-to physical and mental integrity, to freedom from discrimination and to the highest standard of health are universal. The President, too, has been a lead campaigner against FGM.

We must note, though, that many laws in this country have not served their purpose due to lack of implementation. It matters that communities that practice FGM are enlightened on the implications of this law and commitment made to implement it. As President Museveni once said while launching a campaign against FGM in Nakapiripirit, nobody can make an inch of that part they cut. "If God made his engineering, who are you to destroy it?"

We must, as a civilised nation that respects human decency, ensure that this law protects-unequivocally-the helpless victims of genital mutilation.