FGM kills 44000 girls a year

[ArabellaScott]

https://www.bmj.com/content/390/bmj.r1758

' FGM kills 44 000 girls each year according to recent research, which analysed 15 African countries.1 This means that FGM is a bigger cause of death than malnutrition, measles, meningitis, HIV/Aids, and many other health threats for girls in the 15 countries studied.1 Yet, no major foundation prioritises funding to end FGM'
...
'We know that over three quarters of the FGM that is happening in Egypt or Sudan is carried out by medical professionals and the medicalisation trend is getting worse.4
This “medicalisation” of FGM is a dangerous trend because it can give the false impression that this violence can somehow be performed in a “safer” way.56 Medicalising FGM does not reduce the harm, it legitimises it. FGM is an act of torture that cannot be made safe no matter who performs it or in what setting it is performed.

I did a degree (medical related) with 2 employed nurses who openly admitted they had made their girls have it done, here in UK. I was extremely surprised the Tutor didn't have to report them.

Were the nurses British?

We didn't look at each other's passports but they had been living in the UK for at least 5 years as both kids were over 6 and they both said that they had had it done in UK.

Yeah I can imagine, it's human nature to do what you can to get through horror. Survivor's bias as well, 'I got through it, so she'll be fine' sort of thing.

1 girl is one too many. Absolutely barbaric practice

Cant believe they admitted to it. What reaction would they expect.

I dont think this is new information.

For instance see report from 2023. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-38276-6

And earlier this year https://globalgoals.org/news/a-girl-dies-every-12-minutes-as-a-result-of-female-genital-mutilation-cutting/

It was part of a debate in Ethics and Law, so we were encouraged to be open. It was very interesting to hear from people why they did it, it felt very surreal and I doubt I'll ever hear that kind of honesty again. I did wonder about the ethics of the Uni not passing information that could have a bearing on their care/safeguarding abilities of children in their care though; if a family came in with an FGM related issue how would they react?

What reasons did they give?

Exactly. Also with it being illegal in the UK its surprising they didnt get reported.

BMJ article published today.

Given that there's been I think one prosecution of FGM in the UK so far, I'm unsurprised, tbh.

Perhaps two.

https://www.britishjournalofmidwifery.com/content/comment/second-uk-conviction-for-fgm/

Well I guess not surprising if it goes unreported

Both said it showed the girl was from a "good" family and was part of a class that was clean. It was completely unthinkable that they wouldn't - they even laughed together at the thought of what their husbands would do if they refused. One said she had done the 2 older siblings so in reality if she had left the youngest out it would have made her an outcast. They also didn't think anyone in their community was gay or had mental health issues though and refused to believe this was because they were too scared to admit it. Very very deeply ingrained beliefs and cultural norms. Sadly none of them seemed to have been updated at the end of 3 years of study. I did understand this was a small section of the cohort, with many others deriding them and saying it was outdated.

And one for 'conspiring to commit FGM' - in which this man was planning to send a girl overseas to be cut.

'FGM has been a criminal offence in England and Wales since 1985.
The CPS said this was the third FGM conviction in England and Wales, but the first time a person had been convicted of conspiracy to commit FGM.'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8ldjgdle3o

So that makes three.

(Sentence increased to seven years after appeals for it being too lenient.)

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/man-who-conspired-to-commit-fgm-has-jail-sentence-increase

This from an old article in 2016:

'the government estimates 170,000 women and girls in the UK have undergone the procedure.
The first ever recorded figures for FGM, reported in July, showed that between April 2015 and March 2016 there were 5,702 new cases in England.
Most of the women and girls were born in Africa and underwent the procedure there, but at least 18 were subjected to FGM in the UK.
Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have not collected any figures on FGM.'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37364079

Are nurses not mandatory reporters for FGM? Teachers have to report any cases they find out about.

Will take many generations of education before any changes I suspect.

It's tied to religion and culture so we are not to question... and it's only girls! Who cares if they die as long as they don't bring 'shame' on their families!

Sounds similar to the argument I got into with my American BIL about circumcising my nephew. His main argument was ensuring that my nephew has the same penis as all of the other boys in the changing rooms. Quite the logic, eh?

This is so horrifying, and so is your experience with the nurses @6thformoptions I’m staggered that it isn’t mandatory for health care professionals to report this. It was devastating to hear ten odd years ago about how few convictions there have been in the UK since the law was brought in, and deeply depressing to see that that number has hardly shifted. If this kind of torment and child abuse isn’t motivating to people, it makes me despair for the chances of anyone reporting less obvious abuse.

Has there been any research into what holds convictions and reporting back in the UK?

Yes I understand that, but the numbers aren't a surprise.

It has been mandatory to report for 10 years or so.

But can see if you are part of a team that works well together, or by force of circumstance, you probably aren't going to do it. Particulary if it is just from a conversation.

But might be different if it is the cause of medical care being needed.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fgm-mandatory-reporting-in-healthcare

I see last updated 2017. Maybe they need to do a re-launch.

Today's article is specifically raising the issue of increasing medicalisation.

From what I understood because it was training they had student/tutor confidentiality. If they had disclosed it in the workplace it would have been a different kettle of fish. I just felt uncomfortable knowing they would likely be turning a blind eye to things others would not given the chance in a care setting.