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 The number of U.S. women and girls who have undergone the actual
procedures is unknown, however, due to a lack of reliable data, said
the study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC).
The report said the estimated 513,000 women and girls at risk were
born or have a parent born in a nation where female cutting is a
tradition.
Female genital mutilation remains traditional in many African
countries as well as in South Asia and the Middle East, and the
World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated as many as 140 million
women have been subjected to the practice.
The practice, which involves removal of the external genitalia, has
been illegal for 20 years in the United States.
"This shows it's not just something that happens 'over there' but
it's something that happens in this country," said Shelby Quast,
Americas director for Equality Now, a global group that works to end
female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C).
"These girls are as American as any other girls, yet they're facing
something very, very life-altering."
The risk has grown fourfold for U.S. girls younger than 18, said the
CDC study.
The ancient ritual, often shrouded in secrecy and widely condemned
as a serious violation of women's rights, causes many health
problems which can be fatal.
The study said women and girls with family rooted in Egypt, Ethiopia
and Somalia were most commonly found at risk in the United States.
"The increase resulted from the fact that the U.S. population
originating from FGM/C countries has risen sharply in recent
decades," said the study, published online in the March/April
edition of Public Health Reports.
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The 513,000 women and girls at risk in 2012, the most recent year
data was available, more than tripled from the 168,000 at risk in
the last CDC count in 1990, it said.
Some immigrants send their daughters back to their home countries in
what is called “vacation cutting," which also is illegal under U.S.
law, the study noted.
The CDC count boosts public awareness and supports stronger law
enforcement, Quast said, adding that many health-care workers and
teachers are unaware of the law and should be trained for dealing
with survivors or girls at risk.
(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith; Please
credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson
Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking,
corruption and climate change. Visit www.news.trust.org)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
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