West Midlands police counter the maiming of children with "Education"

[sgtkate]

Where do the offences occur, here or abroad ?

 

I doubt we can prosecute if it's done abroad before the family move here, but if they are living in the UK but travel abroad to have the mutilation done and then come back I'd like to think we can still prosecute, otherwise it simply gives a get out of jail free card.

[petemcewan]

I wholeheartedly agree with prosecuting the parents and those who carry out this barbaric practice. In my opinion ,it is patriarchy- and the part that it plays in shaping cultural practices and beliefs in society- that gives rise

to FGM.

 

 

As of today, more than 130 million girls and women worldwide are genitally mutilated. Female genital mutilation (FGM) exists primarily on the African continent (along and north of the equator), but the practice is also carried out elsewhere. Clitoridectomy was performed in medicine both in the United States and in Europe as late as in the 1950s. From a socioeconomic perspective FGM is understood as a practice that forms an important part of girls' socialization. FGM is practiced in societies where women's social acceptance and survival is secured through marriage and childbearing. Without FGM, the woman cannot get married, with the consequence that she has no status or access to resources. Her body practically becomes her only form of capital. From a psychosexual perspective FGM is interpreted as a practice that has been made possible in patriarchal societies where the sexuality of women has to be controlled and where unequal gender relationships are preserved. FGM is practiced by people from various religious denominations, among them Copts, Animists, Catholics, Protestants and Muslims, something that goes against the relatively common belief that FGM is practiced only among Muslims. The resistance to FGM found in countries where the practice is rife clearly demonstrates that patriarchal structures and what gets defined as "culture" are indeed possible to change and renegotiate.

 

Source:

 

"When modernity confronts traditional practices: female genital cutting in northeast Africa.

NJ Kassamali - 1998 - popline.org "

Edited March 1, 2017 by petemcewan