Labia reduction for non-therapeutic reasons vs. female genital mutilation: contradictions in law and practice in Britain

IN the 26 May 2007 edition of the British Medi cal Journal (BMJ), two British psychologists reported that the numbers of requests from women for surgery to alter the appearance of their genitals, especially the labia, were increas ing.1 In examining this phenomenon, the authors asked: how should health care providers respond to requests for this surgery? From this and other literature on this subject, a picture emerges of a growing number of women, many of them very young, who have been led to believe something is wrong with their genitals. According to a recent French study for example: