Barbaric Ritual?

I am appalled that the U.S. Immigration Service sought to deport a Nigerian woman, Lydia Oluloro, to a country where she would not be able to protect her young daughters from a "tradition" requiring part of the children's genitalia to be sliced away ((LAW, March 21)). The U.S. government and the United Nations should mount a worldwide campaign against every form of culturally sanctioned violence involving women and girls, including genital mutilation, forced prostitution and ritual starvation, all of which are practiced by countries that receive huge amounts of aid. At the same time, we must begin to take gender violence seriously right here at home. It is ironic that the Bobbitt saga -- which involved the amputation of one man's penis -- resulted in massive media publicity, while every year millions of little girls suffer genital mutilation in silence.

Susan Guberman-Garcia

Fremont, California

AOL: SusanG7605

As a Nigerian American with daughters, I find Lydia Oluloro's assertion that deportation to Nigeria would have resulted in the inevitable circumcision of her daughters absolutely ridiculous. In Africa, the individual's wish with regard to matters affecting his or her immediate family is still supreme and is always respected, regardless of cultural and traditional pressures. Oluloro, as the mother and guardian of her children, would still have been the person to make the final decision concerning their welfare.

Uche Okoronkwo II

Hayward, California