Joined: 01 Jan 2006 Posts: 6224 Location: London, England
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Met Police Offer 20,000 Reward to Stop Female Circumcision Posted: 07-11-07 03:15am
LONDON (AFP) - The Metropolitan Police
announced on Wednesday that they are
offering a 20,000-pound reward for
information that brought anyone carrying
out female circumcision in London to
justice.
The police said they believed the summer
period to be the "most prevalent time" for
the practice of female genital mutilation
(FGM) to be carried out, because the
extended holiday from school provided time
for young girls to recover.
"We are being told that the illegal
practice of FGM is occurring to children
in London," Detective Chief Superintendent
Alistair Jeffrey, head of the Metropolitan
Police's Child Abuse Investigation
Command, said in a statement.
"We take this extremely seriously and that
is why we are taking this unusual step of
offering a reward, to encourage people not
only to help us to prevent this happening,
but also where it has occurred, bring
those responsible to account."
The reward is half-financed by the police,
with the remaining 10,000 pounds being
supplied by the Waris Dirie Foundation,
named after the fashion supermodel and
activist who herself survived FGM as a
child in Somalia.
It will apply to all information provided
over the next year that leads to the
arrest and prosecution of individuals for
carrying out female circumcision in
London.
Female circumcision varies in its scope,
ranging from injury to the clitoris to the
removal of the labia and clitoris, which
is subsequently sewn up leaving only a
tiny opening.
It is done without the child's consent,
and according to police, only in rare
occasions does it involve the use of an
anaesthetic or take place in a clinical
environment.
Police said anyone administering FGM, or
found to be arranging for it to be
administered, could face up to 14 years in
prison.
So FGM carries a 14 year prison sentence,
but of course .Male .Genital .Mutilation
is perfectly acceptable.
Hypocrites
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Tylanas
Especially EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 12985
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Posted: 07-11-07 09:29am
Hey, at least they're preventing one
kind. Would you rather see *both* legal!?
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Anne123
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 290 Location: Canada
Posted: 07-11-07 14:08pm
I'd rather see both illegal of course.
It's a given that the female genitalia is
legally protected from mutilation in most
developed countries. FGM is not an issue
where there is any debate in the most
influential countries in the world.
CAIRO (AFP) - Egypt on Thursday finally
banned all female circumcision, the
widely-practised removal of the clitoris
which just days ago cost the life of a
12-year-old girl.
Officially the practice, which affects
both Muslim and Christian women in Egypt
and goes back to the time of the pharoahs,
was banned in 1997 but doctors were
allowed to operate "in exceptional
cases".
On Thursday, Health Minister Hatem
al-Gabali decided to ban every doctor and
member of the medical profession, in
public or private establishments, from
carrying out a clitoridectomy, a ministry
press official told AFP.
Any circumcision "will be viewed as a
violation of the law and all
contraventions will be punished," said the
official, adding that it was a "permanent
ban".
A survey in 2000 said the practice was
carried out on 97 percent of the country's
women.
In the latest fatality, 12-year-old Bedur
Ahmed Shaker was taken by her mother to a
private clinic in Minya, a town on the
Nile south of Cairo, for the operation.
She died before she could be transferred
to hospital.
Her mother accused the woman doctor of
negligence, charging that her daughter's
death was linked to the anaesthetic and
not the removal of the clitoris, for which
she had paid 50 pounds (nearly nine
dollars). Police have arrested both women.
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Birch
Supporter
Joined: 07 Nov 2005 Posts: 3966 Location: Bliss,
Thanks: 129
Thanked:12
Posted: 07-11-07 14:37pm
Yes yes yes!!!
While I agree with .Annie123, I'll take
what I can get!
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Anne123
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 290 Location: Canada
Posted: 07-11-07 14:47pm
Yeah, don't get me wrong I absolutely will
take what I can get too!
The Egypt thing is huuuge! If it wasn't
already illegal in the UK it was just a
formality for it to be now, so it came as
no surprise.
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Birch
Supporter
Joined: 07 Nov 2005 Posts: 3966 Location: Bliss,
Thanks: 129
Thanked:12
Posted: 07-11-07 14:52pm
I just reread the .Egypt article, and I
was wondering, 'what is an "exceptional
case"??????
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Anne123
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 290 Location: Canada
Posted: 07-11-07 15:01pm
I wondered that too, but since there is
now a complete ban, no exceptions - I
wasn't too worried about it.
Maybe the exceptions were if they argued
that the tissue must be removed for
cleanliness purposes? Or perhaps for
religious reasons?
Hypocrites 
If it wasn't
already illegal in the UK it was just a
formality for it to be now, so it came as
no surprise.
Or perhaps for
religious reasons?