Excerpt:
The United Nations estimates 200 million girls and women in more than 30 countries have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM).
Somalia has the highest rate in the world recorded by the United Nations, with about 98 percent the country's female population between the ages of 15 and 49 affected by FGM.
Although the procedure is illegal in the United States, many Somali natives now residing in the U.S. underwent FGM as young girls and still live with pain. And, in some Somali communities, the practice is carried out in secret.