Women who have vaginal/clitoral piercings.....

[TheFecklessFairy]

are, next month, to be classified by the Department of Health as having undergone FGM. What the actual??

Really?! That rather minimises the problem with actual FGM. Surely they must see a difference.

Does this mean that those piercings will become illegal to perform?

Are they taking the piss????

Circumcision for babies who don't even get a say is fine though

Why - are there any implications for medical treatments that correspond to medical issues caused by the damage actual FGM cause?

Seems very odd thing for them to do really and what about people performing such piercings on fully able to consent adult females would this have implication to them?

Whaaat? I was under the impression that labia is ok, clitoral hood is ok, actual clitoris - FGM.

Could you give more information?

Is this a set of screening guidelines for midwives, etc, who obviously wouldn't be able to tell, just by looking, whether the patient had had the piercing done as an adult?

Wtf.

There's a massive difference between barbaric demeaning practices conducted painfully and without consent and some on choosing to pierce having being given all relevant info and performed in a clean environment by trained professionals.

they are no way the same thing

What?!

It actually doesn't surprise me at all. It seems as one step forward two step back for women's rights/protection.

Could you give more information?

If you Google you will see that it is reported in all newspapers today.

www.standard.co.uk/news/health/women-with-vagina-piercings-to-be-classed-as-suffering-from-fgm-10113202.html

They quote a bit from DoH, who say they are following WHO guidelines.

I read about this this morning and was actually staggered. Googling it led me to a nurses forum where they were discussing it and saying that it will put women off coming in for smears etc.

I cannot understand the justification for this, the warped thinking behind it, the need to document it at all. What will it help? Who will it protect? What will it prevent? Absolutely bloody nothing. Just minimises actually FGM.

Warped thinking indeed

So I assume it'll now be illegal to get a genital piercing in a studio? What about male genital piercings?

www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/

The reality is it is a form of female genital mutilation.

News article says labia and clitoral. So actually sounds like clitoral hood would be okay. Piercing the actual clitoris has always been illegal.

Well that's batshit.

What about tummy button piercing? Is that classed as Female Belly Button Mutilation?

Another way of minimalising a problem...

Do people get a piercing there for sexual pleasure? I can't imagine any other reason to have that area pierced.

May I be a massive pedant and point out there's no such thing as a vaginal piercing? The external genitalia is the vulva.

And yes, it's nonsense- unless underage girls are being held down and forcibly pierced against their will.

Just minimises actually FGM

Very much so.

I would have thought forcing someone to undergo such pieces against their will would be assault and already be covered under such law as as well as the underused FGM legislation.

Plus why should full grown women who choose to do this - be treated as victims incapable of making grown up decisions.

It's not something I'd have the guts to do or really want to do so no idea if it actually improves sex - do wonder if it coming from position it's fine for men to pierce their genital to improve enjoyment of sex( again no idea if it does) but somehow women choosing to do the same that is wrong.

So what happens when I go for a smear now and they see my genital piercing?

News article says labia and clitoral. So actually sounds like clitoral hood would be okay. Piercing the actual clitoris has always been illegal.

I never thought women would be choosing to have the actual clitoris pierced - I thought clitoral piecing meant the hood.

Women who have cosmetic surgery on their labia will also be affected I believe. Ridiculous.

Looks like they will try and get an FGM conviction no matter how tenuous!