Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the ritual removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. Typically conducted by a traditional circumciser using a razor blade or knife (with or without anaesthesia), FGM is concentrated in 27 African countries, Yemen and Iraqi Kurdistan, and is also found elsewhere in Asia, the Middle East and among diaspora communities around the world. The procedures take place from within days of birth to puberty, and include removal of the clitoral glans, removal of the inner labia and, in the most severe form, removal of the inner and outer labia and closure of the vulva. In this last procedure, a small hole is left for the passage of urine and menstrual blood, and the vagina is opened for intercourse and childbirth. Health effects can include infections, cysts, childbirth complications and fatal bleeding. Over 130 million women and girls have undergone FGM in the 29 countries in which it is concentrated. Rooted in gender inequality, ideas about female purity and attempts to control women's sexuality, the practice is usually initiated and carried out by women, who fear that failing to have their daughters and granddaughters cut will expose the girls to social exclusion.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_genital_mutilation

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1851:

The largest bushfire in a populous region in Australian history swept across Victoria, resulting in approximately 5 million hectares burnt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Thursday_(1851)

1922:

Britain, France, Japan, Italy and the United States signed the Washington Naval Treaty to avoid a naval arms race. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Naval_Treaty

1952:

Elizabeth II ascended to the thrones of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and three other Commonwealth countries upon the death of her father, George VI. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_VI

1976:

In testimony before a U.S. Senate subcommittee, Lockheed president Carl Kotchian admitted that the company had paid out approximately US$3 million in bribes to the office of Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_bribery_scandals

2000:

Second Chechen War: Russia captured Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen government into exile. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grozny_(1999%E2%80%932000)

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

galactagogue: A substance that induces lactation. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/galactagogue

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We should ask, critically and with appeal to the numbers, whether the best site for a growing advancing industrial society is Earth, the Moon, Mars, some other planet, or somewhere else entirely. Surprisingly, the answer will be inescapable — the best site is "somewhere else entirely."   --Gerard K. O'Neill https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gerard_K._O%27Neill