North Carolina last week became the 35th state to pass a law limiting female genital mutilation. The measure Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law becomes effective Oct. 1. The bill introduced in the Senate by Mecklenburg County state Senator Joyce Krawiec passed both chambers of the legislature with no members voting against it. Effective Oct. 1 the practice of female genital mutilation, or FGM, on those under the age of 18 will be a Class C felony punishable by a 44-to-182 month prison sentence. A press release from the organization End FGM Today says North Carolina ranks as 16th in the country for women and girls at risk for FGM. The World Health Organization and the United Nations view FGM as a human rights violation.
George Olsen is a 1977 Havelock High School graduate. He received his B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from the University of South Carolina in 1982 where he got his first taste of non-commercial radio working for their student station WUSC. After graduation he worked about five years in commercial radio before coming to work at Public Radio East where he has remained since outside of a nearly 3-year stint as jazz and operations coordinator at WUAL in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the early 1990s. On his return to eastern North Carolina he hosted classical music for Public Radio East before moving into the Morning Edition host position and now can be heard on All Things Considered. He also hosts and produces The Sound, five hours of Americana, Roots Rock and Contemporary Folk weekday evenings on PRE Public Radio East News & Ideas, and is a news and feature producer for Public Radio East.