Khalid Adem - Arrest and Charges

Arrest and Charges

Adem, a Georgia gas-station clerk originally from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was arrested on March 28, 2003, and charged for aggravated battery and cruelty to children. Gwinnett County prosecutors alleged that in 2001 Adem had used a pair of scissors to remove the clitoris of his two-year-old daughter in the kitchen of the Duluth apartment Adem shared with his wife, Fortunate.

During the trial Adem's wife Fortunate testified: "He said he wanted to preserve her virginity … He said it was the will of God. I became angry in my mind. I thought he was crazy.".

Female circumcision is not specifically outlawed in Adem's native Ethiopia (nor, at the time, in the state of Georgia). While formally discouraged by the Ethiopian government it remains a very common procedure, with some reports estimating that as many as 90% of Ethiopian women have undergone clitoridectomy.