Seven American states have criminalised FGM this year

MARYUM SAIFEE was in a college anthropology seminar when she realised she had been a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM). As a classmate described the practice, a flood of memories came rushing back. She had been seven and living with family in India for the summer while her parents stayed at home in Texas. Her aunt, a doctor, led her to a downstairs clinic, cut her clitoris without anaesthetic, and gave her a chocolate bar as a reward. “It was by far the most traumatic thing I’ve ever experienced,” says Ms Saifee, but like most survivors she never talked about it. She broke her silence only recently when she grew impatient at how few Americans seemed to know about the issue, or that it affected well-off, educated citizens like herself. “Everyone thinks this is happening somewhere far away, but it touches communities you wouldn’t expect.”