FGM in the UK, illegal since 1985 but no prosecutions, how can we change this?

[OvaryAction]

I have just read this article stating that two people have been arrested for performing Female Genital Mutilation on a baby less than two months old.

The UK's efforts to end FGM are being seriously held back by a lack of national strategy or action plan. There are plenty of guidelines out there for teachers, midwives, social workers, police and so on, but they are not obligatory reading and many people in positions where they could identify victims and girls and women at risk are simply not aware of the problem or the role they could play in fixing it. this documentary explains this problem very well and the woman presenting it has created a petition asking the home office to act now and create an effective national action plan.

Please, please sign it and share it. FGM breaches numerous human rights including the right to no torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and causes lifelong physical and psychological trauma to it's survivors. In some cases FGM is fatal.

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Signed.

Signed

I'm surprised and a bit frustrated by the lack of attention this post seems to be getting.

I watched the documentary and then signed. Horrific. Those poor girls.

Signed

Bump

Signed

MummyPigsFatTummy yes. Excellent point. I know several women who are very uncomfortable about this.

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Signed.

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Signed. I found the recent tv programme very distressing.

signed
how many signatures are needed?

tbh I don't see the issue with examining dc. it's done in many countries as part of a 'school-readiness' examination, which looks at hight, weight, general healthyness and if the child has reached certain skills and to refer to specialists (speech therapy for example).
yes, dc get naked for a short bit, but there is no holding down, just a quick observing look.

mous 100,000 so it's getting there.

My issue isn't with holding anyone down as I don't think that would be done, by 'enforced' I meant mandatory, rather than violent. I think that examining children's genitals because you believe they may be at risk of FGM (and such programmes would not be rolled out to check the genitals of children from non practicing groups as it would be seen by the government as a waste of money) would make the parents feel they were mistrusted and being accused because of their ethnicity, which would make education programs and open dialogues with practicing communities near impossible.

I really dont care whether I am seen as racist or not understanding their 'culture.' it is a horrible horrible practise that needs to be stamped out now.

Please, lets ALL stand up and uncover the people who are doing this. The mothers should hang their heads in shame and what they are allowing to happen.

is of a family discussing why the mother put her daughters through FGM, and the pressure she was under to do so.

The people who do this are not monsters, they really are doing what they think is best for their children. We need to TALK about FGM and educate practicing communities on the myths and risks of FGM, enabling them to be able to refuse to cut their daughters without fearing that they will be ostracized and bullied, perhaps even attacked for doing so.

Signed and shared.

DH will be encouraged to sign when he gets home.

Its another female issue tbh. Men want women to have no sexual pleasure, only pain and of course be under their control.

We need to start by making it illegal in this country with any persons found guilty going to jail. We need to go out into the communities and not fear being called racist.

problem is, it is already illegal.
just not enough is done yet to prevent it happening.

I'm totally against FGM but I do wonder why circumcision of boys is considered totally ok? Surely it is just as - or nearly as - bad? But for e.g. in the US and Australia it is the norm for all newborn boys. I asked my husband if he would mind walking around with his foreskin pushed back for a day and he said it would kill him, his penis is so sensitive. So you have to wonder what you are depriving these boys of. They were made with foreskins, why should adults make the choice whether or not they should keep them?
Sorry, not trying to diminish the arguments about female circumcision, just surprised no-one seems to care about the boys as well.

I do care about boys and think medically unnecessary Male Genital Mutilation should be illegal too. I think it's wrong to chop anything off, or otherwise permanently change, the body of a child without sound medical reasoning.

There are people fighting to end MGM, I think there were a few debates going on in America over whether it should be banned a couple of years ago but they seem to have died down.

I am hopeful that a ban on MGM will follow the abandonment of FGM, there is a greater resistance on grounds of cultural rights to MGM though, look through the threads on it on here, Jewish advocates of the practice are very firm in believing they have the right to mutilate their children's genitals. Hopefully successful abandonment of FGM will pave the way for the abandonment of MGM.

Signed. Totally horrific practice.

I would agree that opening the subject for discussion in the relevant communities has to happen.

Signed.
And I agree that FGM = MGM = wrong.

signed. any mutulation of a child of whatever sex, creed or religion is just vile evil and wrong.