According to a 2008 report in the "Washington Post", the Kurdistan region of Iraq is one of the few places in the world where female genital mutilation had been rampant. According to one small study carried out in 2008, approximately 60% of all women in northern Iraq had been mutilated. It was claimed that in at least one Kurdish territory, female genital mutilation had occurred among 95% of women. The Kurdistan Region has strengthened its laws regarding violence against women in general and female genital mutilation in particular, and is now considered to be an anti-FGM model for other countries to follow.