It is believed that FGM started in Egypt some 2,000 years ago and spread from there (The Hosken Report: Genital and Sexual Mutilation of Females). Since then, the number of mutilated women and girls in 26 African countries, parts of Asia and the Middle East is continuously increasing due to population growth. (See the table on Female Genital Mutilation, "Estimate: Total Number of Girls and Women Mutilated in Africa," page 12). Due to growing civil wars and ethnic strife, more refugees from Africa are coming mainly to Europe and North America, most of them bringing their customs along-including FGM.
Only a few years ago, FGM was considered a cultural tradition. Now the United Nations has labeled FGM a violation of human rights. Canada has declared FGM grounds for seeking asylum. The Dutch government states in no uncertain terms that the genital mutilation of girls is a punishable offense in the Netherlands and will not be tolerated. And the U.S. Immigration Service, because of the bravery of Fauziya Kasinga (see below), could be considering FGM a type of harm, even persecution, that could qualify someone for protection under the Refugee Act.
Reference:
(1) Marcia L. Mason, http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.worldservice.org/issues/junjul96/fgm.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.worldservice.org/issues/junjul96/fgm.html&h=774&w=544&sz=102&hl=en&start=31&um=1&tbnid=DWNNio99kLZeIM:&tbnh=142&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3DFGM%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
Only a few years ago, FGM was considered a cultural tradition. Now the United Nations has labeled FGM a violation of human rights. Canada has declared FGM grounds for seeking asylum. The Dutch government states in no uncertain terms that the genital mutilation of girls is a punishable offense in the Netherlands and will not be tolerated. And the U.S. Immigration Service, because of the bravery of Fauziya Kasinga (see below), could be considering FGM a type of harm, even persecution, that could qualify someone for protection under the Refugee Act.
Reference:
(1) Marcia L. Mason, http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.worldservice.org/issues/junjul96/fgm.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.worldservice.org/issues/junjul96/fgm.html&h=774&w=544&sz=102&hl=en&start=31&um=1&tbnid=DWNNio99kLZeIM:&tbnh=142&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3DFGM%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
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