Sen. Reid Introduces Bill To Strengthen Ban on Female Genital Mutilation

December 1, 2011 — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday introduced a bill (S 1919) that would make it a crime to transport women or girls out of the country for the purpose of genital mutilation, The Hill's "Floor Action Blog" reports. A 1996 law criminalized female genital mutilation of minors in the U.S., but Reid said the law has a "vacation loophole" that allows FGM to persist when girls are out of the country.

The Girls' Protection Act would serve "as a deterrent for those parents who are considering sending their young girls to their home countries to undergo FGM," Reid said. He added, "While it is difficult to know precisely how many girls in the United States are at risk of being subject to FGM, estimates from various sources suggest that approximately 200,000 women living in the United States have been or are at risk of being subject to FGM."

The bill would allow fines and up to five years in prison for people who violate the ban. Worldwide, an estimated 100 million to 140 million girls and women have been subjected to FGM, which is widely recognized as a human rights violation (Kasperowicz, "Floor Action Blog," The Hill, 11/30).