Below is the text of our California MGM Bill proposal (PDF, MS Word) to rewrite the California State Female Genital Mutilation Act of 1996 so that boys are also protected from genital mutilation (commonly referred to as circumcision). It is partly modeled after the California FGM Bill that was introduced to the California Assembly on February 1, 1996.

Like its U.S. counterpart, the California MGM Bill specifically protects boys from circumcision and premature forcible retraction of the foreskin. The bill also prohibits the cutting of ambiguous or hermaphroditic genitalia, and it borrows from the U.K. Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2003 by increasing the maximum penalty of offense to 14 years imprisonment. Because section 273a of the California Penal Code already makes it a crime for a person to "permit" female genital mutilation from occurring, the language on the U.S. bill pertaining to assistance with genital mutilation either domestically or out of the country has not been added to the California MGM Bill.

The California MGM Bill proposal has been submitted to the California State Legislature five times - most recently on January 7, 2008. The latest bill proposal is currently circulating among lawmakers and their staff. If you would like to help it become law, please visit our Take Action page.

THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA AMENDED BILL TEXT

CALIFORNIA 2007-08 REGULAR SESSION

A BILL

Submitted to the California State Legislature on January 7, 2008

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "California State Prohibition of Genital Mutilation Act."

SECTION 2. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:

(a) This legislation amends the prior version of this law (a) so that boys and intersex individuals may also be protected from genital mutilation, and (b) to increase the combined maximum punishment of offense to 14 years imprisonment. Genital mutilation is an extreme form of child abuse and a violation of people’s basic human rights. Genital mutilation is a medically unnecessary modification of the genitalia which for girls typically occurs at about seven years of age, but is known to be practiced any time between infancy and puberty. For boys, genital mutilation typically occurs within eight days of birth, but is known to be practiced any time between infancy and twenty years of age. Genital mutilation for girls involves the excision of a young girl's clitoris and other parts of the external genitalia. The most extreme form of this mutilation, known as infibulation, also involves the sewing together of the two sides of the vulva, leaving only a small opening for the passage of menstrual blood and urine. Genital mutilation for boys involves the excision of a young boy’s foreskin, which includes the ridged band of nerves and usually the frenulum. Boys whose foreskins are left intact are often subjected to premature forcible foreskin retraction, which can cause bleeding, scarring of the glans, and other problems. For intersex individuals (those born with ambiguous or hermaphroditic genitalia), genital mutilation typically occurs in hospitals shortly after birth, when the attending physician performs “sex assignment” surgery to make the child fit into the category of boy or girl, rather than intersex.

(b) Female genital mutilation is known to be practiced in 28 nations in the African continent, in a few countries in the Arab Peninsula, among some minority communities in Asia, and among migrants from these areas who have settled in Europe, Australia, and North America. This practice has come to California with the influx of recent immigrant groups from countries that practice female genital mutilation. In addition to the countries where female genital mutilation is practiced, male genital mutilation is widely practiced in the United States, Australia, South Korea, the Philippines, and the Middle East, and is more widespread than female genital mutilation. Statistics on intersex genital mutilation are not as well documented, but in the United States it is not uncommon for an attending medical practitioner to perform genital mutilation on intersex infants.

(c) With the passage of the original version of this act in 1996 (the California State Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act), female genital mutilation of minors became a criminal offense in the State of California. Male genital mutilation was not addressed, however, and the latest statistics indicate that some 35% of young boys in California have their genitals mutilated in the name of health, hygiene, social custom, or religion. Unlike with female genital mutilation, male genital mutilation is practiced openly, in both hospitals and religious ceremonies, without regard to the physical and psychological harm that it causes each of its victims. Intersex genital mutilation was also not addressed. The Intersex Society of North America estimates that the number of “normalizing” genital mutilations is roughly 1 or 2 per 1,000 births, with approximately 1 in 1,666 births being classified as intersexed.

(d) Genital mutilation constitutes a major health risk to all people, with lifelong physical, psychological, and human rights consequences. Complications due to female genital mutilation include shock, hemorrhage, infection, tetanus and septicemia from unsterilized instruments, bladder infection, and even death. Long-term complications include sexual dysfunction, chronic vaginal and uterine infections, severe pain during urination, menstruation, and sexual intercourse, obstetric complications due to obstruction of the birth canal by scar tissue, and lifelong psychological trauma. For the obstructed infant, labor can lead to brain damage or death. Complications due to male genital mutilation include hemorrhage, infection, excessive skin loss, skin bridges, glans deformation, bowing, meatal stenosis, loss of penis, and death. Long term complications include sexual dysfunction, loss of sexual sensitivity, increased friction and pain during sexual intercourse, and lifelong psychological trauma. The complications of intersex genital mutilation are similar to, and may be even more traumatic than, the complications of female and male genital mutilation.

(e) This 4,000-year-old cultural practice is not a requirement of any major religion. According to the World Health Organization, most families allow their daughters to undergo female genital mutilation out of fear that no man will want to marry an "uncircumcised" woman and that she will be ostracized from the community. Further, some women believe that clitoridectomy or infibulation are not only more hygienic, but will also increase a woman's fertility. In some tribes, infibulation is performed to protect family lineage through ensuring that wives are virgins at marriage and that the children are verifiably the men's descendants. For boys, circumcision is encouraged so that boys will look like others in their community, so they will look the same as their father, and so they will have a penis that is perceived to be more hygienic. In religious circumcisions, male genital mutilation is typically encouraged as a “covenant of blood”, and as a way to predetermine the religion of the child. To the extent that intersex children are circumcised for religious reasons, quite often it is based on whether the child is perceived to be “more male” or “more female”.

(f) The World Health Organization, which urges the elimination of female genital mutilation, estimates that 2,000,000 girls undergo female genital mutilation each year. Worldwide, approximately 128,000,000 girls and women, now living, have been subject to the procedure. The National Organization to Halt the Abuse and Routine Mutilation of Males estimates that 13,000,000 boys undergo male genital mutilation each year. Worldwide, approximately 650,000,000 boys and men, now living, have been subject to the procedure. As stated in section (c), The Intersex Society of North America estimates the number of genital mutilations at roughly 1 or 2 per 1,000 births.

(g) It is time for this state to join with genital integrity and human rights organizations to condemn this harmful and outdated procedure. The state must take a proactive role to prevent these mutilations through education and outreach activities to make all state citizens aware of California laws, standards, and expectations for child protection. Heightened awareness among child protective services workers, health care providers, educators, and law enforcement personnel will also aid in achieving this end. Finally, criminal investigations and prosecutions should be carried out, when necessary, to send a strong message that California abhors this practice and views its abolition as paramount to the health and welfare of these young children.

SECTION 3. Article 8 (commencing with Section 124170) of Chapter 3 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code, is amended to read:

Article 8. Genital Mutilation Prevention

124170. The State Department of Health Services, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services and the appropriate federal agency or department, shall establish and implement appropriate education, preventative, and outreach activities, focusing on the new immigrant populations that traditionally practice female genital mutilation, on hospitals that traditionally practice male and intersex genital mutilation, and on religious groups that traditionally practice male genital mutilation, for the purpose of informing members of those communities of the health risks and emotional trauma inflicted by this practice and informing those communities and the medical community of the prohibition and ramifications of Section 273.4 of the Penal Code.

SECTION 4. Section 273.4 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

273.4. (a) If the act constituting a felony violation of subdivision (a) of Section 273a was genital mutilation, as defined in subdivision (b), the defendant shall be punished by an additional term of imprisonment in the state prison for two, four, or eight years, in addition and consecutive to the punishment prescribed by Section 273a.

(b) "Genital mutilation" means the circumcision, excision, cutting, mutilation, or infibulation of the whole or any part of the labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, vulva, breasts, nipples, foreskin, glans, testicles, penis, ambiguous genitalia, hermaphroditic genitalia, or genital organs, or any forcible retraction of the penile or clitoral prepuce (except to the extent that the prepuce has already separated from the glans) performed for nonmedical purposes. “Nonmedical purposes” means any reason other than a clear, compelling, and immediate medical need with no less-destructive alternative treatment available.

(c) Nothing in this section shall preclude prosecution under Section 203, 205, or 206 or any other provision of law.

Prior California MGM Bills (PDF): 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004