Female Genital Mutilation Skyrockets in the U.S.

[DonViejo]

Nina Strochlic

Estimates released today show more than half a million girls living in America have been cut or are at risk of being cut—more than triple the figure from the first nationwide count.

Since the practice of female genital mutilation was outlawed by the United States in 1996, the federal-level crackdown has been swift and unforgiving. In the following decades, 22 states would add their own bans, and “vacation cutting,” or taking minors abroad for the purpose of FGM, would be outlawed. But now, new numbers show that these measures have done little to stanch the skyrocketing rate at which girls are subjected to this cruel form of circumcision on our shores.

Data has been slow to come to the aid of American activists against FGM. It’s been 25 years since the government released its first solid numbers on how many women may be subjected to the practice of genital mutilation in America. In 1997, the CDC estimated that 168,000 girls and women were at risk or had undergone FGM—at the time of the last national census in 1990. A few years later, in 2000, the African Women’s Center upped the number at 227,000.

But according to estimates released on Friday, there currently are around 507,000 girls living in the U.S. who are either at risk of being cut or who have already been cut. That’s more than triple the figure from the very first nationwide count.

This fresh data comes from a new report issued Friday by the nonprofit Population Reference Bureau, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. It was culled from the U.S. Census’ 2013 American Community Survey. The PRB then crunched the numbers from immigration communities and compared them with the prevalence of FGM in the countries where those people hail from. Working under the assumption that first- or second-generation Americans either have experienced FGM or will at the same rate as their homeland counterparts, the PRB narrowed the focus to teens from 15 to 19, presumably most at risk, and women up to 49, a percentage of whom already have undergone the procedure. New York City and Washington, D.C. have the highest concentration, with more than 50,000 girls at risk in each city. Minneapolis, with its large Somali population, is third.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/06/female-genital-mutilation-skyrockets-in-the-u-s.html

[Jesus Malverde]

1. How many American boys have had their genitals mutilated?...nt

[marym625]

3. As much as I understand what you are saying

And i agree that circumcision is a big, important issue, having your clitoris removed has much more dire consequences than circumcision.

If you are talking about something more than that, then I apologize.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. That's a great point. When you aren't here do you grace the Mensa board with your eminence? /NT

[HERVEPA]

6. Stupid comparison. Really dumb. And I'm sure you know it.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

11. Don't worry...The man in your avatar's theory will weed him out. /NT

[La Lioness Priyanka]

8. do boys usually get their penis hacked off in its entirety? because that would make it a far more

valid comparison than male circumcision does to female genital mutilation.

[marym625]

2. jesus christ

This is so sick!

K&R

[In_The_Wind]

4. K & R

[n2doc]

7. People really try to hijack these threads

I wonder why?

[riderinthestorm]

9. Barbarous cultural relic that can't disappear from this planet soon enough

[HappyMe]

10. I can't even imagine the horror of this.

[jeff47]

12. Wow that's shitty methodology in that study.

The PRB then crunched the numbers from immigration communities and compared them with the prevalence of FGM in the countries where those people hail from. Working under the assumption that first- or second-generation Americans either have experienced FGM or will at the same rate as their homeland counterparts, the PRB narrowed the focus to teens from 15 to 19, presumably most at risk, and women up to 49, a percentage of whom already have undergone the procedure.

Yeah....that's some awfully shitty assumptions there. But they are great at getting an exciting headline.