Female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), sometimes referred to euphemistically as "female circumcision", refers to various forms of permanent and harmful operations performed on girls or women in some parts of the non-Christian world.
Female genital mutilation is extremely rare in the West, but is widely practised in parts of Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa, especially where traditionalist religion predominates.
- ... practitioners look on it as an integral part of their cultural and ethnic identity, and some perceive it as a religious obligation Female Circumcision: Rite of Passage Or Violation of Rights? - Guttmacher Institute
The mutilation is usually carried out when the girl is prepubescent,[1] often forcibly and against her wishes. It can cause many potential genito-urinary complications, including infection, urinary incontinence, and increased risk of problems during future childbirth.
In the United States, Congress outlawed the practice in 1996 and further tightened the law in 2013. Both performing the operation in the US and transporting a child to a foreign country to get the operation are felonies subject to 5 years imprisonment.[2] However, no federal cases were brought against doctors until 2017.[3] However, many states have failed to also adopt laws to cover situations where the child does not cross a state line to get the operation.
References
- ↑ Female Genital Mutilation – The Wallace Global Fund
- ↑ 18 U.S.C. §118
- ↑ Three Indicted for Female Genital Mutilation (April 26, 2017). Retrieved on June 14, 2017.
Other external links
- World Health Organisation on Female Genital Mutilation