ASSEMBLY CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 35

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblywomen CRECCO, HECK and Weinberg

A Concurrent Resolution memorializing the Congress of the United States to expeditiously enact legislation to prohibit female genital mutilation.

Whereas, An estimated 100 million girls and women around the world have undergone female genital mutilation, which takes different forms in different countries, including the cutting of the hood of the clitoris (circumcision), the removal of the entire clitoris (excision), or the removal of all external genitalia and the stitching together of the vulva (infibulation); and

Whereas, At least two million girls every year are at risk of suffering from female genital mutilation, which is generally performed without anesthetic, and often results in lifelong consequences including chronic infection, severe pain during urination, menstruation, sexual intercourse and childbirth, and indelible psychological trauma; and

Whereas, Female genital mutilation is defended by both men and women in the cultures where it is practiced as a rite of passage and a social prerequisite of marriage as well as a method to control a woman's sexuality; and

Whereas, While female genital mutilation is prevalent in the band of African countries which stretches across the center of the continent, it is also found in some Asian countries and among immigrant populations in Western Europe and North America; now, therefore,

    Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey (the Senate concurring):

    1. The Congress of the United States is respectfully memorialized to expeditiously enact legislation to prohibit female genital mutilation in the United States.

    2. Duly authenticated copies of this concurrent resolution, signed by the Speaker of the General Assembly and attested by the Clerk of the General Assembly, and signed by the President of the Senate and attested by the Secretary of the Senate, shall be forwarded to the Secretary of Health and Human Services of the United States and the presiding officers of the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, and to each of the members of the Congress of the United States elected from the State of New Jersey.

Memorializes Congress to enact legislation prohibiting female genital mutilation.