More than half a million girls in the United States were at risk of undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) in 2013, according to preliminary data released by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB). This is more than double the number of girls estimated to be at risk of undergoing procedure in 2000, indicating a sharp rise in the rate of FGM in the U.S. The PRB said the increased FGM risk was strongly correlated with an increase in immigration to the U.S. from three countries where the harmful practice is still common: Egypt, Ethiopia and Somalia. The three U.S. states with the most girls at risk are California, New York and Minnesota. According to the PRB, Minnesota “has a disproportionate number of women and girls at risk of [FGM] because of its large Somali immigrant population.”
Compiled from: Westcott, Lucy, Female Genital Mutilation on the Rise in the U.S., Newsweek (February 6, 2015); Mather, Mark and Feldman-Jacobs, Charlotte, Women and Girls at Risk of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in the United States, Population Reference Bureau (February 2015)