Where the practice of infibulation is common, women are reinfibulated after the birth of each child. Groups in which clitoridectomy is practiced also usually practice male circumcision and view the ritual as part of a religious or ethnic tradition and as a necessary stage for passage into responsible adulthood. Other sources indicate that with infibulation an opening of about the size of a straw is left. At marriage a husband may be given a double-edged knife to create a larger opening for intercourse, and the opening may be sewn shut again if the husband goes on a trip. For childbirth, a large opening is created which is again sewn closed after the birth.
Quoted statistics indicate a higher incidence in less urbanized, lower economic status subgroups.
The United States considers fleeing from female circumcision to be a valid reason for the granting of refugee status.