Senate majority leader Harry Reid introduced the Girls Protection Act of 2011 on International Women Human Rights Defenders’ Day.
The legislation closes what is known as the ‘vacation loophole’ – the practice of taking young girls overseas, often in school holidays, to circumnavigate the law FGM in the US.
It also strengthens the law that Reid authored in 1996 that criminalises the practice of FGM on girls under the age of 18.
Reid said: ‘The practice of FGM is internationally recognised as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
‘I hope that the enactment of this legislation will help to protect young girls who would otherwise be taken from our country to be subject to FGM overseas.’
Nevada joins Florida and Gerogia as the only states in the US to have the ‘vacation’ legislation, which makes the practice a crime.
Equality Now, which campaigns for the protection of the human rights of women around the world, has been working closely with the senator on the move.
Yasmeen Hassan, global director of Equality Now, said: ‘FGM is not a religious issue, nor is it restricted to one ethnic group; it is a form of gender-based violence, perpetrated on girls and women.
‘We applaud senator Reid for introducing this legislation on International Human Rights Defenders’ Day and reaffirming that FGM, in all its forms, is a human rights violation.
‘We hope that this legislation will generate renewed interest from the medical, social services and other authorities to protect girls, often US-born, from FGM.’
FGM is a centuries-old traditional practice that involves the partial or complete removal of female genitalia and causes lifelong physical and psychological harm.
The
WHO estimates that between 100 and 140 million girls and women worldwide have been subjected to FGM, mostly in Africa and countries in Asia and the Middle East.
