Sunday, March 1, 2015

Report: Women at Risk of FGM in the U.S. Has Doubled to 500,000

Report: Women at Risk of FGM in the U.S. Has Doubled to 500,000

http://www.clarionproject.org/news/report-women-risk-fgm-us-has-doubled-500000

Sun, March 1, 2015
A girl undergoing female genital mutilation.
A girl undergoing female genital mutilation.




Most Americans probably consider female genital mutilation (FGM) to be a problem relegated to Third World countries, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. Yet new data indicates that the number of women and girls in the United States in risk of being subjected to FGM has more than doubled since 2000 to almost half a million.

FGM is the partial or complete removal of a female's external genitalia. It is considered to be a "sacred" ritual by many African tribal communities and by various Islamic sects.

FGM is almost always justified by those communities who practice it as a way to control women's sexuality, and the physical mutilation and the emotional trauma definitely has a devastating effect on women who are subjected to it.

Watch the following segment about FGM taken from our award-winning film Honor Diaries which opens up the discussion about this issue which has such a destructive effect on women worldwide.

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