Congress Should Act 'Quickly' On Female Genital Mutilation Bill, New York Times Editorial States

In an editorial, the New York Times calls on Congress to "move quickly" to pass the Girls Protection Act (HR 5137), which would "make it a felony to take a girl out of the country" to undergo female genital mutilation. The U.S. banned FGM in 1996, and the bill's supporters "hope [it] will be a deterrent and embolden more young women or their mothers to resist family or community pressure and defend themselves," the editorial says.

Advocates against FGM have been "marking progress one village at a time" in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, but the "battleground extends to immigrant communities in the developed world, which still value this horrifying ritual," the editorial states. The "need for strong resistance was underscored" by an American Academy of Pediatrics statement "that a milder version of mutilation -- a nick of a girl's genitals done in a doctor's office -- should be made legal in the United States as a way to prevent families from taking children abroad for the full brutal procedure," the Times continues. AAP retracted the statement after advocates "rightly argued that medicalizing this violence against women would only legitimize it and undermine the force of the ban," the editorial adds.

"More needs to be done" to address FGM in the U.S., the Times writes. State health officials "should step up education campaigns in immigrant communities," while pediatricians "could make it their business to recognize and report the signs of abuse," the editorial states. In addition, the federal government "could ensure that ports of entry ... have informational signs, hot lines and a shelter," it says, concluding that an "international departure terminal may provide the last chance to save a girl from a lifetime of suffering and early death" (New York Times, 6/30).


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