WHO IS AT RISK IN THE UNITED-STATES

FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION/female circumcision (FGM/FC) refers to a gro up of traditional practices that involve partial or total removal of t he external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital org ans for cultural, religious, or other non-therapeutic reasons. These p ractices are usually performed by a nonmedical practitioner in the hom e or other nonclinical setting. Complications occurring immediately af ter the practice as well as those encountered months and years afterwa rd can result in disability or premature death, In 1996 Congress direc ted the Department. of Health and Human Services to develop estimates of the prevalence of women and girls with or at risk for FGM/FC in the United States. This paper reports those estimates, as derived by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which showed that in 1990 there were an estimated 168,000 girls and women living in the United S tates with or at risk for FGM/FC.