Thanks for your recent editorial on the exhibition of African masks from Liberia at the Baltimore Museum of Art ("Masking the truth at the BMA," May 26).
I was greatly taken aback by the museum's lack of transparency regarding the female genital mutilation or cutting practiced by the Sande people of Liberia. Informing museum audiences about the serious human rights violations there is vital in calling public attention to the issue.
According to the World Health Organization, female genital mutilation involves the intentional alteration or injury of female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It has no health benefits and can cause "urinary problems, cysts, infections and infertility as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of death for newborns."
The WHO reports that more than 125 million girls have suffered from the practice in 29 countries in Africa and Middle East.
In his book "A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power," former president Jimmy Carter points out that the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993 declared that FGM was a "serious abuse" of female children that has lifelong medical and health consequences.
As the director of an immigration center, I have met and heard the stories of women who have suffered because of such mutilation or because they have taken a stand against the practice.
For society to ignore or gloss over such human rights violations is to fail to protect the human rights of women around the globe.
The BMA's mission statement clearly focuses on education when it says "the museum is committed to creating an environment that inspires creativity, encourages learning and fosters human understanding."
I hope that the BMA will reconsider its stance of ignoring the importance of educating the public about this large-scale violation of women's human rights.
Pat Shannon Jones, Baltimore
The writer is director of the Immigration Outreach Service Center.