51.   The case of Fauziya Kasinga, a young woman seeking asylum in the United States, has drawn renewed attention to an abhorrent practice, female genital mutilation.

52.   The Clinton Administration has urged such asylum be granted any of the estimated millions of young women who face genital mutilation in some African and Middle Eastern cultures.

53.   The column said this section would have devastating effects on asylum applicants like Fauziya Kassindja, the young woman who fled from Togo to escape genital mutilation.

54.   The first time was last year when it urged Congress to outlaw the genital mutilation of women.

55.   The immigration service says it has drawn up its proposal regarding genital mutilation on its own, without consulting the State Department.

56.   The guidelines outline examples of the forms of harm women can experience, such as infanticide, genital mutilation, slavery and forced marriage.

57.   The money goes to local and international groups working to stop domestic violence, rape, female genital mutilation, sexual slavery and incest.

58.   The ritual, which is also called female genital mutilation, is performed on young girls in many parts of Africa.

59.   The Senate passed, without a dissenting vote, a bill making female genital mutilation a crime of child abuse in Colorado.

60.   The United States has admitted men who fear persecution because they are gay and women who are struggling to evade genital mutilation.