News

Laura MacDonald
(This page does not contain medical advice)

AAP withdraws statement proposing legalisation of ritual clitoral 'nicking'

Thursday 27th May 2010
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has officially withdrawn a new policy statement in which it suggested doctors be permitted to perform an incision form of female genital cutting (FGC, also known as female genital mutilation or FGM).

Any cultural or ritual cutting or pricking of a female child's genitalia is illegal in the US, and new Federal legislation has recently been proposed which would strengthen the law by making it also illegal to take a child abroad for FGC.

The new AAP policy, published in the May 2010 edition of its journal Pediatrics, aroused a storm of outrage with its suggestion that nicking of the clitoral hood was 'not harmful' and could help doctors to 'build trust' with immigrant communities in which FGC was traditional, and prevent excision forms of FGC.

Esther Nkatha,President of Woman of Paradise, which campaigns against female genital cutting, was among those who demanded a retraction of the policy. Nkatha stated in her e-letter to Pediatrics, "Your policy has almost destroyed our work in eliminating this culture [of FGM]". As an illustration of the confusion American endorsement has caused she points out that girls who had been persuaded to refuse the cut were now expressing interest in the 'AAP FGM'.

The AAP press release about the policy withdrawal can be read here and the e-letters about the new policy can be read here.

The 2008 interagency statement on female genital mutilation, which defines more than eight forms, can be viewed here.