Across parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, the following scene is replayed over and over: A girl, often between 4 and 12 years old, is held down by three or four women while all or part of her external and internal genitalia is cut off.

Complications from this brutal procedure can include severe hemorrhaging, infection, long-term difficulties with intercourse and childbirth, and even death.

Female genital cutting (FGC) reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women.

Urge Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to do all she can to encourage the governments of the countries where this practice takes place to put a stop to it >

More than 100 million women and girls worldwide are affected by different forms of cutting. Infibulation is the most severe form, where some or all of the external genitalia are cut, leaving only a very small opening for urination and menstruation.

The practice of female genital cutting is hard to talk about. But ignoring it only guarantees more suffering, and leadership from the United States would go a long way in urging the countries where FGC occurs to end this human rights abuse.

Nearly three million young girls are at risk of female genital cutting this year alone. Please take action and help save these girls from a lifetime of pain and suffering >

Thank you for taking action,

The Change.org Team