IV 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 106 
Denouncing female genital mutilation/cutting as a violation of the human 
rights of women and girls and urging the international community and 
the Federal Government to increase efforts to eliminate the harmful 
practice. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 6, 2019 
Ms. FRANKEL (for herself and Mr. PERRY) submitted the following resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Denouncing female genital mutilation/cutting as a violation 
of the human rights of women and girls and urging 
the international community and the Federal Govern-
ment to increase efforts to eliminate the harmful prac-
tice. 
Whereas female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is recog-
nized internationally as a violation of the human rights 
of women and girls; 
Whereas FGM/C comprises all procedures that involve partial 
or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other 
injury to the female genital organs for nonmedical rea-
sons; 
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•HRES 106 IH 
Whereas an estimated 200 million girls and women alive 
today have been victims of FGM/C, with girls 14 and 
younger representing 44 million of those who have been 
cut; 
Whereas more than 3 million girls are estimated to be at risk 
of FGM/C annually; 
Whereas the practice is mostly carried out on young girls be-
tween infancy and age 15; 
Whereas the practice is rooted in gender inequality and is 
often linked to other elements of gender-based violence 
and discrimination, such as child marriage; 
Whereas the World Health Organization asserts that FGM/ 
C has no health benefits for women and girls, and can 
have long-term impacts on their physical, psychological, 
sexual, and reproductive health; 
Whereas the impacts of FGM/C on the physical health of 
women and girls can include bleeding, infection, obstetric 
fistula, complications during childbirth, and death; 
Whereas, according to UNICEF, FGM/C is reported to occur 
in all parts of the world, but is most prevalent in parts 
of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia; 
Whereas, although the practice of FGM/C is highly con-
centrated in specific regions and associated with several 
cultural traditions, it is not tied to any one religion; 
Whereas, in 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention published a report estimating that 513,000 
women and girls in the United States were at risk or may 
have been subjected to FGM/C; 
Whereas, in 2015, the United Nations adopted a set of 17 
Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 that includes a 
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target to eliminate FGM/C, having previously recognized 
in 2010 that ‘‘the abandonment of this harmful practice 
can be achieved as a result of a comprehensive movement 
that involves all public and private stakeholders in soci-
ety’’; 
Whereas the elimination of FGM/C has been called for by nu-
merous intergovernmental organizations, including the 
African Union, the European Union, and the Organiza-
tion of Islamic Cooperation, as well as in 3 resolutions 
of the United Nations General Assembly; 
Whereas the Department of State reports on FGM/C in its 
Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, in-
cluding information on whether FGM/C is prevalent, the 
type and category of genital cutting that is most com-
mon, as well as international and governmental efforts 
being taken to address the practice; 
Whereas the Federal Government recognized FGM/C as a 
form of gender-based violence in the United States Strat-
egy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence 
Globally, released in August 2012 and updated in June 
2016, and the United States Global Strategy to Empower 
Adolescent Girls, released in March 2016; 
Whereas a Government Accountability Office report released 
in 2016 concluded that ‘‘State and USAID currently 
have limited international assistance efforts to address 
FGM/C.’’; and 
Whereas, in 2012, the United Nations General Assembly des-
ignated February 6 as the International Day of Zero Tol-
erance for Female Genital Mutilation to enhance aware-
ness of and encourage concrete actions by states and in-
dividuals against the practice: Now, therefore, be it 
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•HRES 106 IH 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) denounces female genital mutilation/cutting 
as a violation of the human rights of women and 
girls; 
(2) affirms the importance of ending the prac-
tice of female genital mutilation/cutting globally for 
the safety and security of women; 
(3) calls upon the international community to 
increase efforts to accelerate the elimination of fe-
male genital mutilation/cutting; and 
(4) urges the Department of State and the 
United States Agency for International Development 
in their gender programming to incorporate coordi-
nated efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation/ 
cutting. 
Æ 
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