Senate Bill S6538

                                BILL NUMBER:S6538

TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public health law, in relation to
public education and outreach about female genital mutilation

PURPOSE: To increase public awareness and educate the public regarding
the physical, sexual and psychological consequences of undergoing
female genital mutilation, including through "vacation cutting" in
which young women are sent out of state to undergo the procedure,
typically during school vacations.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one amends subdivision 1 of section 207 of the public health
law by adding a new paragraph (1) 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 (Fo4) 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: New bill.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: Nominal.


EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.