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While the practice has been outlawed in many of the 29 countries where FGM is concentrated, it persists in some rural areas as a centuries-old cultural tradition, where it is usually performed by women elders as a part of a coming-of-age ritual. The tradition is sometimes believed to "purify" a woman and performed to preserve virginity before marriage.
The [[World Health Organization]] estimates that some 6,000 girls undergo FGM around the world every day. The procedure is often performed in unsafe and unsanitary conditions on girls between the ages of four and 12. FGM can be fatal, and can lead to immediate complications such as infections and [[urine ]] retention, as well as long-term complications such as severe pain and tearing during intercourse and major complications during childbirth.
VICE News saw the result of the severest form of FGM first-hand in Dr. [[Marci Bowers]]' operating room in San Mateo, California, and watched as she performed a defibulation procedure — the re-opening of genitalia that had been sewn shut — and [[clitoroplasty]], the reconstruction and restoration of sexual function to the [[clitoris]].