Colleague discussing the "benefits" of FGM 🤢

[Feefee00]

A colleague has recently moved from a country in Africa. He was telling another colleague about the benefits of FGM. He was complaining how it's getting banned everywhere when it prevents women being unfaithful, getting raped while their husbands are away. He also said when women wear trousers it can rub on the clit causing excitement. I got really upset about the conversation and said the thought of someone holding their daughter down and inflicting that on her is barbaric. I then walked away I can't believe people believe this in 2023 and we have people in this country who believe in it. I want to report him but I'm scared of being called racist.

Has anyone dealt with this kind of thing? Or what the procedure is ?

It’s nothing to do with cultural sensitivities.

He’s sexually harassing you by making these comments. Please report it to HR as well as going down the route with the safeguarding lead. Your workplace has an actual legal duty to protect you from this kind of behaviour in the workplace. And what he’s saying does amount to behaviour, not just an ‘opinion’. Sure he’s free to hold that opinion but there are consequences for expressing it in the workplace.

100000000% this 👏🏼

Please report to appropriate people within your organisation and to the police.

You should talk to the poster who started a thread earlier about a psychiatrist from Nigeria who thinks magic spells cause mental illness. I'll find you a link to their thread. It's weird that two posters are having such similar problems in such similar workplaces today!

Very weird sadistic and inappropriate, I would be keeping a log of everything he does and says 👀

'Dobbing someone in' seriously?
Safeguarding concerns being raised and you think someone shouldn't be 'dobbed in'? Seriously hope you don't work with anyone vulnerable!

Haha imagine if wearing trousers really did give women with intact clitorises an orgasm every time they walked anywhere. What an idiot. I’d report him for sexual harassment.

If he is a doctor or nurse I would also report to his regulatory authority (GMC/NMC)

The fact that he works in a hospital in a position of trust and responsibility makes it worse (if possibpe). It may be male only patients (at the momrmt) but they are vulnerable and may take on board what he says. Some people put absolute faith in what medical professionals say and believe it to be gospel. You never know how his comments will influence their beliefs and actions.

As I say, he daughter is also at risk.

Don't let HR fob you off.

I would still also report it to the police. Even if you don't know his full details, the police can find them out. You will be taken seriously.

I know this is a stupid question before asking, but I want to try and understand the twisted mentality at work behind FGM. I am trying to understand only.
How does FGM "prevents women being unfaithful, getting raped while their husbands are away" ?
I'm speculating that the first bit "prevents women being unfaithful" means if women don't enjoy sex they would have less motivation. But by that logic it would also mean women are less inclined to have sex with their husbands too. The only way this then makes any sense is if it doesn't matter if the wife is inclined or not, the husband decides. Ironically this makes the husband a rapist, and now the "logic" becomes self conradictory.
The second bit FGM preventing "getting raped while their husbands are away". I can't even force twist my thoughts to come up with a reason for this. Are FGM women less desirable to rapists or husbands as they appear to be otherwise called?
If anyone can do any better I'd like to hear please.

I think it's probably a bit like branding cattle, the fact that she is mutilated is a sign for other men that she is owned by a man, rather than violating something which is already claimed (he is a man and he respects other men enough to not to want to violate their property) a rapist would look for a woman who hasn't been claimed and is therefore up for grabs (in his mind)

It's because women are property, owned by men. Women are not human beings in their world.

👍

He probably believes that if a woman gets raped it was all her own fault, she must have been asking for it. So if she can't enjoy it she wouldn't go round asking for it and so she wouldn't get raped.

Yes report. It the right thing to do. I think u will feel.some sort of relief that simeine else is dealing with it too. Vile to state it and for u to have to listen to it. If it continues ask for him to be moved away from you.

@Thesharkradar The branding cattle mentality I'm on board with. It's clear women are regarded as goods and chattels by these people. However the practicality of not getting raped if you've been the victim of FGM I don't see working.
No rapist in heat is gonna stop just because of FGM, especially when to see the FGM he's so close to his goal.
I guess it could be the fear of retribution over touching another man's property, but I'm assuming rape is the stronger drive in the rapist at that point.
I don't suppose there is are statistics on are FGM women raped less than non FGM women in areas where FGM s common?

This is not someone who should be working in any clinical environment. FGM and juju and he's working in a mental health setting? Fuck that. He is probably peddling all sorts of dangerous shit to vulnerable people

BBC newsnight 2014.
Tell me that when you have a medical issue, you want this guy involved in the care.

What safeguarding issue are you talking about? Is this man a paediatric doctor? (and even then)

He's a man with a shitty opinion. Vile it may be, but since when was it a crime to have vile opinions?

What's the call even going to be like? "Hello I want to report someone who thinks FGM had benefits?"

"Are you saying this person is planning on mutilating his child?"

"No he hasn't even got a daughter, it's just that I find his views utterly repulsive."

"Well so do do we, but what do you want us to do about it? Send him to a camp to be re-educated?"

But he has got a daughter.

Could you post me the link ? Thanks

If you work in health care there are particular beliefs that if you espouse them in a work setting can get you sanctioned, we have what may be seen as a moral code as part of healthcare registration and practise. People have even been dismissed when they promote their own Christian beliefs in a work setting if it is deemed you have stepped over a line. There will be plenty of people within health care who hold beliefs that would be deemed as inappropriate if they discussed them in a work setting ( often issues around abortion,same sex relationships,sex outside marriage etc) and it’s not that it’s considered wrong to hold these beliefs as they are generally within societal norms, it’s when those beliefs mean that you may treat differently or demonstrate prejudices against certain patients within your care. FGM is not a societal norm in our country . Holding the sort of beliefs posted about by the OP and actually thinking it’s ok to discuss them in a work setting is very,very far over the line of acceptability and any health /social care/educational establishment would take this situation very seriously.

Yes.

workplaces have plenty of training around discrimination, abuse, sexual misconduct, menopause, etc etc.

next set of training/CPD modules in o/p’s workplace should clearly be about the legalities of FGM and how it isn’t acceptable.

Or that rapists will apologise, put their penises away and walk off if they find their potential victim has had FGM performed on her!

I hope your HR team take this incident very seriously OP, it is appalling to think that someone thinks offering such opinions is OK, I realise this might be that he hasn’t realised that UK attitudes and laws are so different, but at the very least he needs to be made aware of this.