TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg which would make it a crime of the third degree to engage in the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) on females under the age of 18 was unanimously approved by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee today.
“Unfortunately, there are cultures and traditions which are actively followed in the world today, in which women have no rights regarding their own body,” said Senator Weinberg, D-Bergen. “FGM represents the Dark Ages for women’s rights, and reflects a total dismissal and disdain for women being able to decide for themselves regarding issues of sexuality and their sexual health. Through this bill, New Jersey is taking a stand against this barbaric and inhumane practice which treats women as objects and which subjects women to painful, emotionally and physically scarring cultural traditions in the name of some outmoded and outdated idea of purity.”