NC leaders want to ban genital mutilation. ‘It’s child abuse when it’s a young girl.’

State senators are filing a bill to make female genital mutilation a Class C felony after a federal judge struck down a federal law banning the practice.

Sens. Joyce Krawiec of Forsyth County and Vickie Sawyer of Iredell County, along with Lt. Gov. Dan Forest — all three Republicans — outlined a soon-to-be filed bill that would ban the practice of genital mutilation on girls under the age of 18.

Krawiec said she would have been happy to include all women in the bill — like other states have — but she said when women are adults, they have the right to make the decision to have the procedure for themselves.

“It’s child abuse when it’s a young girl,” she said.

Krawiec said 28 states have enacted legislation to ban the practice. “I want us to join those states,” Krawiec said. “We don’t know how prevalent it is in our state, or even in our country, but the CDC estimates that there are 500,000 women who have either been a victim of this procedure or are at risk of being a victim.”

According to the World Health Organization, female genital mutilation has been documented in 30 countries — including those in Africa and parts of the Middle East and Asia. The WHO notes that most girls receive the procedure by the time they turn 15.

The bill being introduced has a “no defense clause” — meaning even if the procedure was done for cultural or ritual reasons, it would still be illegal. It would also be illegal even if the girl gave permission, Krawiec said.

“At the state level, we needed to do something about this,” Forest said during the press conference. “I haven’t heard any opposition to this across the board, not just within the Senate or the House, but anywhere in North Carolina.”

ACT for America, a group that opposes what it calls “radical Islam” and has been called an anti-Muslim organization, has been pushing similar legislation in other statehouses.

On its website, the group says it has helped pass legislation in Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, South Dakota, Florida, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma and Virginia. It is unclear if ACT for America is pushing the legislation here, but the group has ties to Forest. Forest’s chief of staff, Hal Weatherman, once worked for the organization.

This story was originally published January 31, 2019 at 1:29 PM.