Female genital mutilation

Abstract

After a brief introduction the first part of this article on female genital mutilation (FGM) opens by presenting a definition and history of FGM and describing the medical and health (physical and psychological) consequences of the procedure which can cause death (four girls have bled to death in England as a result of FGM since 1978). The next section reviews the international debate around FGM and the legislative efforts taken to address the problem. Legislative efforts to curb FGM have been more successful in European than in African countries where bans have largely been ignored. The third section briefly considers the fact that FGM was prescribed in the US as treatment to control certain behaviors throughout the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. This section looks at judicial and legislative action to eradicate FGM among refugees and immigrants to the US including the 1995 Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act. The second part of the article presents an analysis of the criminalization of FGM in the US. The law has an obligation to intervene when a parents religious beliefs endanger the life and health of a child and immigrants to the US have no constitutional protection afforded to the practice of the cultural traditions of their homeland. The US by banning FGM and providing for educational and outreach activities to eradicate the practice has taken a stand against FGM and can help eradicate the practice worldwide.