Excerpt:
Female genital mutilation is on the rise in the United States, according to a report by Sanctuary for Families, an American agency specialising in gender-based violence.
The most recent figures, produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1997, estimate that up to 200,000 young girls and women in the United States are at risk for female genital mutilation (FGM).
"Although updated studies are greatly needed, anecdotal evidence strongly indicates that the number of girls in the U.S. at risk of FGM has increased steadily since the CDC's original report," according to the study.