FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION

female genital mutilation. 1. Female circumcision. 2. The act of cutting, or cutting off, one or

more female sexual organs. • Female genital mutilation is practiced primarily among certain tribes

in Africa, but it also occurs among some immigrant populations in the United States and in other

Western nations. There are three commonly identified types: sunna, in which the hood of the

clitoris is cut off; excision, in which the entire clitoris is cut off; and infibulation, in which the

clitoris, the labia minora, and much of the labia majora are cut off. In the United States, Congress

has outlawed female genital mutilation, specifically prohibiting the use of a cultural defense for

persons accused of performing the act. 18 USCA § 16. — Abbr. FGM. See CULTURAL DEFENSE.

FEM-CRIT fem-crit. See CRIT. FEME

feme (fem), n.[Law French] Archaic. 1. A woman. 2. A wife. — Also spelled femme.

feme covert (fem k<<schwa>>v-<<schwa>>rt). [Law French “covered woman”] Archaic. A

married woman. • The notion, as Blackstone put it, was that the husband was the one “under

whose wing, protection, and cover, she performs every thing.” 1 William Blackstone,

Commentaries on the Law of England 430 (1766). See COVERTURE.

feme sole (fem sohl). [Law French] Archaic. 1. An unmarried woman. 2. A married woman

handling the affairs of her separate estate. — Also termed (in sense 2) feme sole trader; feme sole

merchant.[Blacks Law 8th]