Includes bibliographical references (p. [253]-272) and index.

Introduction : The custom in question / Rogaia Mustafa Abusharaf -- "Had this been your face, would you leave it as it is?" Female circumcision among Nubians of Egypt / Fadwa El Guindi -- Male and female circumcision : the myth of the difference / Sami A. Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh -- Community-based efforts to end female genital mutilation in Kenya : raising awareness and organizing alternative rites of passage / Asha Mohamud, Samson Radeny, and Karin Ringheim -- A community of women empowered : the story of Deir El Basha / Amal Abdel Hadi -- Strategies for encouraging the abandonment of female genital cutting : experiences from Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Mali / Nafissatou J. Diop and Ian Askew -- The Sudanese National Committee on the Eradication of Harmful Traditional Practices and the campaign against female genital mutilation / Hamid El Bashir -- The Babiker Badri Scientific Association for Women's Studies and the eradication of female circumcision in the Sudan / Shahira Ahmed -- "My grandmother called it the three feminine sorrows" : the struggle of women against female circumcision in Somalia / Raqiya D. Abdalla -- The double-edged sword : using the criminal law against female genital mutilation / Audrey Macklin -- Representing Africa in the Kasinga Asylum case / Charles Piot -- Afterword : Safe harbor and homage / L. Amede Obiora.