to CELEBRATE the first FGM prosecutions!

[Sallyingforth]

Breaking news on BBC. Hope they send them down for a long sentence as an example to others.

[myroomisatip]

Not read the whole thread but had to give support here.

It is absolutely outrageous that things like that go on in this day and age and in our culture and society!

[alemci]

well said Puzzle. everyone in a professional capacity is permanently treading on eggshells in case they offend as in cases like Victoria Columbie.

[neverthebride]

As I said in one of my earlier posts, I really don't think many professionals ARE treading on eggshells, not wanting to offend or turning a blind eye.

All the MH staff, GPs, social workers and housing workers that I spend time with are very aware of the issue and doing all they can to prevent it.

In my city there are also FGM educational workshops for women in at risk communities run by women from those communities.

As I previously mentioned, all of the women I know who have been victims of FGM are very much against the practice and tell me anecdotally that the majority of people they are friends with think the same.

I do hear of family members in countries of origin still doing it and the women here trying to convince them not to. An awful lot of women in these countries are against it but it is very difficult for them to refuse to have their girls mutilated there.

A lot of the women I work with come from Somaliland (as apposed to Somalia) and that is a safe country which is rapidly modernising. I'm hearing from people that have visited recently that FGM is still common there but there is a growing movement against it and calls for it to be made illegal there too.

I'm sure things may be different elsewhere in the UK but I can only speak from my experience.

[Sallyingforth]

You raise a good point neverthebride.
If we can get this disgusting practice wiped out here, people visiting their homeland will encourage it to be stopped there as well - a reversal of the present practice of taking their children back there for FGM. Perhaps we still have something good to offer the world!

[AngryPrincess]

Just watched this video about FGM

www.upworthy.com/2-women-make-a-disturbing-topic-easier-to-understand-via-decorated-cupcakes-yes-cupcakes?c=ufb1

[creamteas]

Looks like some in the medical profession have reservations about this too. Open letter published today,