FGM/C, or female genital mutilation/cutting, involves removing part or all of a woman or child’s healthy female sex organs and surrounding tissue for non-medical reasons. FGM/C is recognized internationally as a human rights violation that can amount to torture, and an extreme form of violence against women and girls.
FGM/C is usually performed between birth and puberty, and is done for a variety of reasons, including to control a girl’s sexuality, to ensure virginity until marriage, and to ensure fidelity in marriage. In many cases, FGM/C is performed without anesthesia, but there is a growing concern that FGM/C is being medicalized and performed by health professionals. Women and girls often feel pressure to conform to their communities’ traditional values that promote the practice.
The World Health Organization has classified 4 types of FGM/C. Type I involves partial or total removal of the clitoral glans, including the clitoral hood. Type II involves the partial or total removal of the clitoral glans and the labia minora (the inner folds of the vulva). Type III, often referred to as infibulation, involves the removal of the external genitalia and sewing closed the vaginal opening, leaving only a tiny opening for menstrual flow and urine. Lastly, Type IV includes all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes (for example, pricking, piercing, incising, scraping, and cauterization).
FGM/C can have lifelong health consequences, including chronic infections, hemorrhage, severe pain during urination, menstruation, and sexual intercourse, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health issues. The WHO found that women with FGM/C Types II or III were 30% more likely to need a cesarean section, and women with FGM/C Type II had a 20% increased risk of postpartum hemorrhage, compared to 70% for those withFGM/C Type III. These, in turn, increase the risks of maternal and infant mortality.
A prevalence study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that in 2012 over half a million women and girls in the United States underwent FGM/C or were at risk of FGM/C.
CONNECTICUT RANKS 26TH IN THE NATION FOR AT-RISK POPULATIONS, TOTALING 2,658 at-risk girls and women. This number is expected to have grown by 50% in 2023.
Connecticut is the only state along the notorious sex trafficking corridor between Providence, RI and Atlantic City, NJ in which FGM/C is legal.
Although a federal FGM/C ban, is in place, state laws remain critical tools in preventing FGM/C. Federal law is not a substitute for state law and will not work in all instances!
- 200 million women and girls worldwide live with FGM/C consequences.
- FGM/C has been reported to occur in over 94 countries in the world.
- 68 million girls are at risk, including girls living in the United States.
- 41 States have passed laws banning FGM/C, in some cases as amendments to child abuse laws. Make Connecticut number 42.
- FGM/C is usually performed between birth and puberty.
- FGM/C is performed for a variety of reasons, including controlling female sexuality, ensuring virginity until marriage, and securing fidelity during marriage.
- FGM/C in many cases can be performed on young girls without anesthetics, but there is growing concern that FGM/C is being medicalized and performed by health professionals. In either situation, FGM/C can have lifelong health consequences including chronic infections, hemorrhage, severe pain during urination, menstruation, and sexual intercourse.
- FGM/C is recognized internationally as a human rights violation, torture, and an extreme form of violence against women and girls.
CONNECTICUT MUST PASS A LAW THAT PROTECTS ALL GIRLS FROM (FGM/C).