What is FGM/C?
Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is “any partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or any other injury of the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.”1 FGM/C is practiced predominantly in Africa and in some pockets of Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.2 In these countries, traditional practitioners and birth attendants as well as professional health care providers perform the cutting.2,3 FGM/C is a cultural practice that predates the Abrahamic religions, although some proponents claim it is rooted in Islam.3 Girls who do not undergo mutilation/cutting can face community shaming and diminished marriage prospects.4 Different cultures use different words to describe the procedure.
Girls may be cut anytime between birth and 15 years of age.1 When girls are old enough to remember the cutting, it can leave devastating effects on their mental health. The procedure has been universally condemned by international human rights organizations because it severely harms the health of women and girls throughout their lifetime.1 FGM/C carries both short and long-term consequences, including severe pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic infections, and birth complications.5
This video from Global Citizen provides an overview of FGM/C around the world, including the prevalence of FGM/C, health impacts for survivors of FGM/C, and reasons that FGM/C may occur. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that over 500,000 women in the U.S. have experienced or are at risk of undergoing FGM/C.3
Performing female genital mutilation/cutting is illegal in over 30 U.S. states.6 It is a federal crime to transport a minor to a foreign country for FGM/C, also known as "vacation cutting."7 In 2018, a federal judge struck down a 1996 U.S. law banning FGM/C, leaving in place a patchwork of state-level laws to help combat FGM/C.8 A survivor of FGM/C is not at fault and has not violated any U.S. laws.
Please refer to our factsheet for an overview of FGM/C in the U.S and around the world: