Female circumcisionThe World Health Organization defines female circumcision as "a procedure involving the partial or total removal of the external genitalia for cultural, religious or non-therapeutic reasons(1). " It is commonly practiced by Muslims in Africa and various parts of the Middle East. According to Loretta Kopelman, there are over 80 million women who have undergone some variation of this procedure. Female circumcision is classified into three types; Type one is the complete or partial removal of the clitoris, type two completely removes the clitoris and some labia minora, and type three is known as infibulation, the closing of the vulva that leaves only a hole large enough for urine and blood menstrual to pass, after the removal of the clitoris, the labia minora and most of the labia majora (Kopelman, 221). Should female circumcision be seen as a cultural practice or should it be considered a crime regardless of cultural views? The article Female Genital Mutilation: Crime or Culture addresses concerns shared by many around the world regarding this heinous practice. This procedure, which is a common practice for most Muslims and some Christians in Africa and other parts of the Middle East, is seen in most cases as unacceptable and as a violation of the rights of girls and women which can potentially have lasting physical and emotional consequences. Physical consequences can include infection and death, not to mention pain during the procedure, which occurs without anesthesia. Emotionally, being circumcised as a woman takes away any pleasure a woman might derive from sexual intercourse. It makes the woman an object controlled by a man. Supporters of the women's constituency... in the center of the paper... it will never end. For cultures that rely on paid dowries for their daughters, it is a way to charge more, guarantee purity, which will yield a greater reward when the daughter marries (Kopelman, 219). The concept of cultural relativism protects these cultures from judgment, but the ethnocentrism of other cultures, particularly the United States, makes it difficult not to judge this practice. References Definition used by the World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en.Kolody, C. (2014). Female genital mutilation: crime or culture. Huffington Post. Available online at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carina-kolodny/female-genital-mutilation_4_b_4734728.htmlKopelman, L.M. (2000). 15: Female genital circumcision and conventionalist ethical relativism. In , Globalizing feminist bioethics (p. 219). Perseus Books, LLC.