Journal Citation:
31 CORNELL INTERNATIONAL LAW JOURNAL, 193-250 (1998).
This note discusses the probability of success of the 1996 Female Genital Mutilation Act. Signed into law by then US President Clinton, it is the first law passed by the United States designed to eliminate the practice of female circumcision. The note focuses on the second prong of the Act which targets the practice of female circumcision outside of the US. In analyzing the probability of success of the Act, this note draws lessons from previous legal and non-legal efforts to eradicate female circumcision, discusses the mechanisms employed in these past efforts, and compares female circumcision with two analogous cultural practices: the Indian practice of widow burning and the Chinese practice of foot binding. [Descriptors: Reproductive Rights - Female Genital Cutting, International]