Supplement to Population Reports, Meeting the Needs of Young Adults, Series J, No. 41, Vol. XXIII, No. 3 October 1995. Published with support from the United States Agency for International Development. For additional copies contact Population INformation Program, Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012, USA; fax (410) 569-6266; e-mail PopRepts@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) encompasses a number of traditional operations that involve cutting away parts of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genitals, whether for cultural or any other nontherapeutic reason (534). Where FGM takes place, it is often performed during infancy, childhood, or adolescence. FGM has traditionally been called "female circumcision." Recognition of its harmful physical, psychological, and human rights consequences, however, has led to use of the term "female genital mutilation," a term that more accurately describes the consequences of the procedure and distinguishes it from the much milder male circumcision.

FGM is known to be practiced in one form or another in 28 nations in the African continent, in a few countries on the Arab Peninsula, among some minority communities in Asia, and among migrants from these areas who have settled in Europe, Australia, and North America (139, 213, 477). The historical roots of the practice are not well known, but they appear to date back 2,000 years to ancient Egypt. FGM also is thought to have been practiced at one time or other in many Western countries (213, 296, 547). It is estimated that 100 million to 132 million women now living have undergone the procedure, and another 2 million procedures are done each year (213, 477, 492).