Immediate Release
June 27, 2019
Press Contact: [email protected]
Blackburn Taking Stand to Strengthen Federal Law to Condemn Perpetrators of Female Genital Mutilation
Washington, DC — Independent Women's Voice (IWV) encourages Congress to swiftly pass S. 2017, the Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2019.
“Senator Blackburn is doing more than just denouncing FGM, as Congress did in May, she is truly standing up for girls’ and women’s human rights by strengthening federal law to hold perpetrators of FGM accountable,” said Carrie Lukas, vice president of IWV. “Just last year, a federal judge dismissed a case brought against people involved in mutilating girls as young as nine, because of the way that the federal statute was written. This law would be a step to right that wrong and send a message definitely that female genital mutilation has no place in America. There should be bipartisan support for this bill.“
200 million women and girls worldwide have undergone female genital mutilation, a barbaric and medically unnecessary procedure that permanently harms women physically and often emotionally. Millions of girls and young women are at risk of FGM here in the United States.
Thousands of women have signed IW’s national petition urging Congress to include FGM in the reauthorization of the VIolence Against Women Act (VAWA) so that funding through VAWA can be used to raise awareness and combat FGM.
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