Trott's Female Genital Mutilation Bill Ready For US House Mark-Up

WASHINGTON, DC — A bill that would increase penalties for female genital mutilation — a practice condemned by human rights groups worldwide — is set for mark-up in the House Judiciary Committee Thursday, the final step before the legislation goes to the floor for a vote. Sponsored by Congressman Dave Trott, a Birmingham Republican, it was filed in response to a historic federal court case against two doctors, two mothers and two others facing felony charges for their alleged roles in the mutilation of four suburban Detroit girls and two out-of-state girls.

The Michigan case is the first to be prosecuted under a 20-year-old federal law criminalizing the procedure. It sets a five-year prison sentence, but Trott’s bill increases the penalty to up to 15 years, the same as legislation passed earlier in July by the Michigan Legislature. Trott’s bill would require mandatory reporting to law enforcement by health-care providers, teachers and other school employees if they suspect a girl has been cut.

As many as 100 girls may have received the procedure in Michigan, according to federal prosecutors. Female circumcision, commonly known as FGM, is a cultural ritual performed to curb girls’ and women’s sexual pleasure and reduce promiscuity.

In the case wending through U.S. District Court in Detroit, the defendants are members of a small Muslim sect known as Dawoodi Bohra, where such procedures are viewed by some — but not all — members as a religious rite of passage. The procedures vary, but may involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-therapeutic reasons.

Attorneys for the defendants, who include Dr. Jumana Nagarwala and Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, say the procedures they're accused of performing were benign and did not involve cutting. The attorneys argue FGM should be constitutionally protected, but legal scholars say that will be a difficult defense, as U.S. courts have consistently ruled there are limits on First Amendment religious protections.

Though the defendants in the Detroit case are Muslims, one of the highest rates of FGM occurs in Ethiopia, which has a majority Christian population.

The practice has been internationally condemned as a violation of girls’ and women’s human rights by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and the UN Population Fund, among other organizations. Serious health consequences can result, including chronic pain, infections, infertility, complications during childbirth and psychological problems.

In the United States, more than 500,000 girls and women have undergone or are at risk to have the genital mutilation procedure, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The procedures vary, but may involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-therapeutic reasons.

Only 25 states have laws that make FGM a crime. It is treated much more seriously in other developed nations, Trott said, noting that the maximum penalty in France is up to 20 years in prison. In the United Kingdom, it’s up to 14 years in prison.

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