PART ONE… http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/05/21/america.female.genital.cutting/index.html Pressure for female genital cutting lingers in the U.S. By Stephanie Chen, CNN Photo: Despite cultural pressures, Fatima Mohamed, a Somali living in the U.S., refuses to allow her 11-year-old daughter to be cut. (CNN) — Fatima Mohamed, a 45-year-old Somali immigrant living in America, was faced with a question most parents will never worry about: Should my daughter be circumcised? The United States has outlawed female genital cutting, but cultural and religious pressures to circumcise girls linger among some African and Muslim immigrant families. Mohamed says the decision was an easy one for her to make after going through the painful experience herself in Africa as a child. She strongly opposes the idea of cutting her 11-year-old daughter, an American-born Somali with long curly hair, who plays soccer and likes watching “American Idol.” But not every family in her African community in Massachusetts feels that way. Nor can they they swiftly make the decision to reject circumcising their daughters, because it's a cultural ritual integral a woman's identity, she says. “They say they don't want to hear it,” Mohamed says. “Some think I'm disrespecting my own culture. Some will say, 'You act like an American now. You forgot about who you are.' ” Women at risk of FGC States with the highest estimated number of women who've been circumcised or are at risk for genital cutting: California: 38,353 New York: 25,949 New Jersey: 18,584 Virginia: 17,980 Maryland: 16,264 Minnesota: 13,196 Texas: 13,100 Georgia: 9,531 Washington: 7,292 Pennsylvania: 6,508 (Courtesy of Brigham and Women's Hospital) Female genital cutting is often a coming-of-age ritual practiced in various parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, but the procedure isn't just invoking concerns in the developing world. Religious and cultural beliefs fueling female circumcision often follow immigrants and refugees who move to America. Rarely have cases of female genital cutting been documented in the U.S., but much more likely, cutting has moved underground in the U.S. and overseas, advocacy groups and doctors say. In the U.S., an estimated 228,000 women have been cut — or are at risk of being cut — because they come from an ethnic community that practices female genital cutting, according an analysis of 2000 Census data conducted by the African Women's Health Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital. The Census reports there are roughly 150 million women living in the United States. The World Health Organization estimates up to 140 million women and children worldwide have been affected by female genital cutting. The WHO defines female genital cutting as a process that alters or injures female genital organs for nonmedical purposes. There are several types of female circumcision. The most severe types require the inner or outer labia to be sewn together, a procedure performed in parts of Somalia and Egypt. Other forms include excising the entire clitoris or part of the clitoris. Genital cutting dates back at least 5,000 years, says Marianne Sarkis, a professor of international development at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. Some women desire the procedure because they believe they are dirty or unmarriageable if they are not cut, she said. There are cultures that begin cutting women as early as infancy, while some wait until adolescence. Communities divided Not all families in communities where female genital cutting is commonplace will want to participate. In Mohamed's immigrant community in Massachusetts, families are divided, she says. Some refuse to allow the procedure, as she does. Others say they want it, and many remain silent. Some will say, 'You act like an American now. You forgot about who you are.' –Fatima Mohamed, Somali immigrant in the U.S. Occurrences of the practice have been documented in the U.S. In March, a Georgia mother was charged with female genital mutilation after the father noticed an infant's genitals “appeared to be have been circumcised,” according to the Troup County Sheriff's Office. Officers wouldn't comment further on the family. Several advocacy workers say the more common scenario involves sending girls back to their home country to have the ritual performed. Over the past few years, Taina Bien-Aim
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