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A00047 Summary:

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A00047 Committee Votes:

A00047 Floor Votes:

A00047 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
 submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)



 
BILL NUMBER: A47A
 
SPONSOR: Paulin (MS)

 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the penal law, in relation to facili-
tating female genital mutilation
 
 
PURPOSE:
 
To strengthen current law to address facilitation of female genital
mutilation
 
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
 
Section one amends the penal law by adding a new section 260.22 to
provide that a person is guilty of facilitating female genital mutila-
tion when, knowing that a person intends to engage in the circumcising,
excising, or infibulation of the whole or any part of the labia majora
or labia minora or clitoris of a person under eighteen years of age, and
except as provided in section 130.85 of the penal law, he or she inten-
tionally aids the commission or attempted commission of such conduct.
 
Section two provides the effective date.
 
 
JUSTIFICATION:
 
Female genital mutilation (FGM) refers to a harmful traditional practice
primarily on girls under the age of 18 and that consists of procedures
performed on the female genitalia without a medical purpose. FGM ranges
from clitoridectomy, the removal of part or all of the clitoris, to
infibulation, in which all of the outer genitalia are removed and the
vagina is sealed, often with stitches, except for a small opening.
 
The United Nations recently estimated that at least 200 million women
and girls around the world have undergone FGM, 44 million of whom are
girls below age 15, and some a few weeks after birth. United Nations
Children's Fund, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A global concern,
UNICEF, New York, 2016 UNICEF Report). According to the UNICEF Report,
more than 500,000 females in the U.S. have either undergone FGM or are
at serious risk of undergoing FGM. In 2000, New York was ranked second
in the country (after California) with the greatest estimated numbers of
girls and women at risk of FGM. When ranked by metropolitan areas with
the greatest numbers of girls and women at risk, the New York metropol-
itan area (including parts of Connecticut and Pennsylvania) came in
first. According to a 2013 study, more than 65,000 females at risk or
who have undergone FGM live in the New York City metropolitan area and
Newark. "Female Genital Mutilation - the Numbers Keep Rising," by Robin
Wright, The New Yorker, February 8, 2016.
 
Yet we know that even the numbers we have do not reflect the full scope
of the issue since the data is based on household surveys.
 
Typically, girls are most at risk of FGM if they are part of a community
originally from a country where FGM is prevalent. FGM is prevalent in 30
countries in Africa and the Middle East and Asia.  Cases of FGM occur in
every location in which immigrant FGM-practicing families settle, such
as New York. FGM is usually performed on girls before the age of 15, but
the specific age varies by region, local custom, and ethnic group, and
in many countries, the average age is reported to be falling, with some
 
girls subjected to the practice within the first few weeks or months of
life.
 
Despite current law prohibiting FGM, every year girls in our State
remain at risk of facing imminent danger of FGM when the procedure is
carried out either in covert and illegal ceremonies within the State or
in traditional ceremonies overseas. In the former instance, girls are
subjected to FGM by traditional practitioners who have been brought in
from overseas to preside over covert ceremonies where an entire group of
girls are subjected to the procedure within a short period of time. In
the latter instance, families send girls overseas, often to their
parents' countries of origin, to undergo FGM. After FGM in the State was
criminalized in 1997, we have learned from, among other things, testimo-
ny of survivors that families are increasingly engaging in this prac-
tice, known as "vacation cutting."  Family members send their female
children overseas to undergo FGM during school vacations, as part of a
trip organized to expose the girls to the customs of their ancestral
homelands, and thereby avoid criminal prosecution in this State.
 
These children are sent overseas for FGM without their consent, and, as
reported in the New York Times, in some cases without the knowledge or
permission of one or both of their parents. See "After School in Brook-
lyn, West African Girls Share Memories of a Painful Ritual," by Nadia
Sussman, New York Times, April 25, 2011. Although there are thousands of
women living in the State who have been subjected to FGM and who wish to
protect their daughters from the same fate, controlling spouses, elder
relatives and community members exert overriding authority over these
women's wishes.
 
A persistent misconception about FGM is that the procedure is required
by religion, particularly Islam. However, a multi-country survey
conducted by the World Health Organization reveals that the perceived
link between FGM and religion may in fact be only a reformulation of
control over a women's sexuality and a form of gender-based violation
and discrimination. FGM is a 5,000 year-old harmful cultural practice
that appears to predate any religion. FGM is neither prescribed by any
religion nor is it particular to any religious group. FGM is prevalent
among communities of different religious backgrounds, including Muslims,
Christians, Jews, and followers of traditional animist religions. FGM
is, among many groups, performed to preserve a girl's virginity or to
control her sexuality, or is a prerequisite to marriage.
 
FGM, however, creates lifelong physical and psychological damage,
including extensive bleeding, infection, painful menstruation and
complications during childbirth, and sexual and psychological compli-
cations. The sexual and psychological impact of the practice cannot be
understated, nor considered secondary to its physical impact; the conse-
quences survivors suffer are typically complex, interlinked and often
irreversible. Moreover, some women are reported to be apprehensive about
seeking medical care because they fear their doctors' reaction.
 
With enactment of this legislation, we will enhance our ability to
protect girls at risk of FGM by holding accountable individuals who
intentionally assist in subjecting a girl to FGM knowing that a person
intends to engage in FGM of such girl.
 
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

Similar to A.7320-A, 2013 and 2014 referred to codes. Same as S.5518-A,
2013 and 2014 passed Senate both years.
 
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
 
None to the State.
 
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become law.

A00047 Text:

 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          47--A
 
                               2015-2016 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                       (Prefiled)
 
                                     January 7, 2015
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M. of A. PAULIN, ZEBROWSKI, FAHY, GALEF, JAFFEE, MILLER,
          ROSENTHAL, ROZIC, TITONE, COOK, MOYA, HOOPER, OTIS, RAIA, GOTTFRIED --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Codes -- recommitted to the
          Committee on Codes in accordance with  Assembly  Rule  3,  sec.  2  --
          committee  discharged,  bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
          recommitted to said committee
 
        AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to facilitating female  geni-
          tal mutilation
 
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1.  The penal law is amended by adding a new section 260.22 to
     2  read as follows:
     3  § 260.22 Facilitating female genital mutilation.
     4    A person is guilty of facilitating  female  genital  mutilation  when,
     5  knowing that a person intends to engage in the circumcising, excising or
     6  infibulating of the whole or any part of the labia majora or labia mino-
     7  ra  or  clitoris  of a person under eighteen years of age, and except as
     8  provided in subdivision two of section 130.85 of this chapter, he or she
     9  intentionally aids  the  commission  or  attempted  commission  of  such
    10  conduct.
    11    Facilitating female genital mutilation is a class A misdemeanor.
    12    §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
    13  have become a law.
 
 
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00542-04-6