(CNN) It's a brutal practice that's inflicted on thousands of girls and women every year. Female genital mutilation, or female ritual cutting, involves altering or injuring female genital organs. It's often done by people with no medical training and in filthy places, posing horrendous health risks that can linger for decades. Most victims are told never to talk about it -- and some don't survive to tell their stories. Even as girls and women across the globe faces these risks every day, misconceptions abound. To end the practice, experts and survivors say this practice must be drawn out of the shadows. Here's what you need to know:

It's often painful and harrowing ...

Some women say they haveof being cut and don't feel any pain at the incision site.and require special medical procedures just to be able to menstruate or give birth. It all depends on the type of FGM, which experts have classified by the part or parts of the body that get cut . Cases run the spectrum, fromtoto

... and yet millions are subjected to it.

It has no basis in religion ...

No religious texts require FGM. Yet some cultures and sects believe the practice makes for better wives by making girls more acceptable in their communities, thus . Yet some cultures and sects believe the practiceby making girls more acceptable in their communities, thus improving their eligibility for marriage . The practice aims to reduce a woman's libido to ensure premarital virginity and marital fidelity, and can be associated with being "feminine," "modest," "clean" and "beautiful."

more than half of women aged 15 to 49 have undergone the procedure. In 13 African countries,

... and zero health benefits.

no medical benefits whatsoever. Ten global agencies a human rights violation and calling for its elimination within one generation. Experts across the globe agree that the practice has. Ten global agencies issued a joint statement in 2008 branding the practiceand calling for its

There is some good news abroad ...

a steady decline in the percentage of teenagers who have undergone the practice. survey of countries where FGM is common showsin the percentage of teenagers who have undergone the practice.

opinions are changing. A strong think it should be history. And. A strong majority of women and men in countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where the procedure is most often practiced

... but an alarming rise in the US.

has more than tripled. The increase is due to rapid growth in the number of immigrants from countries where risk of FGM is greatest. These girls and women California, New York and Minnesota. Since 1990, the estimated number of girls and women in the US who have undergone or are at risk of the practice . The increase is due to rapid growth in the. These girls and women are concentrated in and

US statistics don't distinguish between survivors of the practice and people at risk, though there's an effort underway to change that

The feds have taken steps ...

a federal law was passed in 1996 making it illegal to perform the practice in the US. The law was amended in 2013 to make it illegal to knowingly transport a girl out of the US to inflict FGM abroad. After the US granted asylum to 17-year-old Fauziya Kassindja, who fled female genital mutilation and a forced marriage in Togo,. The law was amended in 2013 to make it

But it took more than two decades for the first prosecution to happen. Two Michigan doctors and the wife of one of the doctors were charged in 2017 with performing the banned procedure on two 7-year-old girls.

... but half the states have no law against it.