Relates to public education and outreach about female genital mutilation

Summary of provisions

Section one amends subdivision 1 of section 207 of the public health law by adding a new paragraph (k) to expand the list of topics for which the department of health shall conduct education and outreach programs for consumers, patients and health care providers, to include information regarding the physical, sexual and psychological consequences of undergoing female genital mutilation, including the practice of "vacation cutting" in which young women are sent out of state or the country to undergo the procedure, typically during school vacations.

Section two provides the effective date.

Justification

Female genital mutilation (FGM) refers to a harmful traditional practice primarily on girls under the age of 18 and that consists of procedures performed on the female genitalia without a medical purpose. FGM ranges from clitoridectomy, the removal of part or all of the clitoris, to infibulation, in which all of the outer genitalia are removed and the vagina is sealed, often with stitches, except for a small opening.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 140 million women and girls around the world are currently living with the consequences of FGM. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated in 1997 that 150,000 to 200,000 girls and women in the United States were at risk of being forced to undergo FGM; based on 2000 U.S. census data, between 1990 and 2000, the number of girls and women in the United States at risk for FGM increased by 35 percent. In 2000, New York was ranked second in the country (after California) with the greatest estimated numbers of girls and women at risk of FGM. When ranked by metropolitan areas with the greatest numbers of girls and women at risk, the New York metropolitan area (including parts of Connecticut and Pennsylvania) came in first. In 2000, the number of girls in New York under the age of eighteen at risk of FGM was estimated at 7,675.

Typically, girls are most at risk of FGM if they are part of a community originally from a country where FGM is prevalent. FGM is prevalent in 26 countries in Africa and countries in the Middle East

and Asia. Cases of FGM occur in every location in which immigrant FGM practicing families settle, such as New York. FGM is usually performed on girls before the age of 15, but the specific age varies by region, local custom, and ethnic group, and in many countries, the average age is reported to be falling, with some girls subjected to the practice within the first few weeks or months of life.

Despite current law prohibiting FGM, every year girls in our State remain at risk of facing imminent danger of FGM when the procedure is carried out either in covert and illegal ceremonies within the State or in traditional ceremonies overseas. In the former instance, girls are subjected to FGM by traditional practitioners who have been brought in from overseas to preside over covert ceremonies where an entire group of girls are subjected to the procedure within a short period of time. In the latter instance, families send girls overseas, often to their parents' countries of origin, to undergo FGM. After FGM in the State was criminalized in 1997, we have learned from, among other things, testimony of survivors, that families are increasingly engaging in this practice, known as "vacation cutting." Family members send their female children overseas to undergo FGM during school vacations, as part of a trip organized to expose the girls to the customs of their ancestral homelands, and thereby avoid criminal prosecution in this State. These children are sent overseas for FGM without their consent, and, as reported in the New York Times, in some cases without the knowledge or permission of one or both of their parents.

A persistent misconception about FGM is that the procedure is required by religion, particularly Islam. However, a multi-country survey conducted by the WHO reveals that the perceived link between FGM and religion may in fact be only a reformulation of control over a women's sexuality and a form of gender-based violation and discrimination. FGM is a 5,000 year-old harmful cultural practice that appears to predate any religion. FGM is neither prescribed by any religion nor is it particular to any religious group. FGM is prevalent among communities of different religious backgrounds, including Muslims, Christians, Jews, and followers of traditional animist religions. FGM is, among many groups, performed to preserve a girl's virginity or to control her sexuality, or is a prerequisite to marriage.

FGM, however, creates lifelong physical and psychological damage, including extensive bleeding, infection, painful menstruation and complications during childbirth, and sexual and psychological complications. The sexual and psychological impact of the practice cannot be understated, nor considered secondary to its physical impact; the consequences survivors suffer are typically complex, interlinked and often irreversible. Moreover, some women are reported to be apprehensive about seeking medical care because they fear their doctors' reaction.

As the prevalence of FGM, including vacation cutting, rises in the United States, advocates, survivors and community service providers recognize that a proactive and coordinated approach is needed to prevent FGM. Community outreach and education about what FGM is and is not, how it may be carried out covertly, and the consequences of FGM is a critical element of such a proactive approach and an effective means by which we will be better able to protect women and girls from

FGM in addition to strengthening our laws that prohibit FGM locally and extra-territorially.

Legislative history

S6538 Referred to Health/A8497 Passed Assembly

Fiscal implications

Nominal.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.