America's Dark and Forgotten History of Female Circumcision: An Interview with a Survivor by Daniel N. MacClymont

This interview exposes the largely forgotten history of female circumcision in the United States, tracing its roots to Victorian-era medical practices and revealing how it was once normalized, insured, and justified under shifting ethical narratives. Through survivor Patricia Robinett's testimony, the article confronts the lasting trauma of nonconsensual genital cutting and challenges modern assumptions about medical authority, human rights, and cultural hypocrisy. Read this article and find accompanying references at: https://secularhumanism.org/2026/01/americas-dark-and-forgotten-history-of-female-circumcision-an-interview-with-a-survivor/ About the Author:  Daniel N. MacClymont is a cofounder of the Genital Autonomy Legal Defense and Education Fund (GALDEF.org), a nonprofit organization that pursues precedent-setting impact litigation to protect all children from the harms of medically unnecessary genital cutting customs, such as circumcision. He has been an active voice in the genital autonomy (intactivist) movement since 2014 and, as a member of the Kansas City Intactivists, is known for employing humor-based street and educational campaigns to reach the hearts and minds of young people. Subscribe to Free Inquiry: https://secularhumanism.org/subscribe/ Free Inquiry Audio Edition is a production of The Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry.