THE CULTURE OF FEMALE CIRCUMCISION

The issue of female circumcision takes on special significance as more women migrate to the United States from countries where the practice has religious and traditional underpinnings. Female circumcision is a problem unfamiliar to most Western health care practitioners. This art icle describes an ethnographic study of the types of female circumcisi on, the reasons for and against the practice, the health implications of this practice, and cultural attitudes of circumcised women both in Western Africa and as migrant refugees living in the United States. Et hical dilemmas in dealing with this practice and implications for nurs es and health care providers are discussed.