Female genital mutilation: the UK's hidden crime
- 8 years ago
It’s a potentially lethal practice that has been going on for generations, mainly in Africa, but also in the Middle East and Asia.
At least 200 million girls and women in 30 countries are estimated to have undergone female genital mutilation, or FGM.
In the UK, FGM is illegal. The exact scale of those affected is unknown – due to its hidden nature. But the British government estimates at least 170,000 women and girls are living with the consequences of having the procedure – and a further 65,000 girls under the age of 13 are at risk.
There are reports of a black market in the UK. Police also suspect girls are flown out of the country to their family homelands for FGM.
Campaigners say the key to eradicating the practice – treated as criminal abuse in the UK – is education.
What is FGM?
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is defined as a procedure where genitals are cut, injured or changed – and there is no medical justification.
Some refer to it as “female circumcision” or “cutting.”
Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) defines four main types of FGM:
Type 1 (clitoridectomy) – removing part or all of the clitoris
Type 2 (excision) – removing part or all of the clitoris and the inner labia (lips that surround the vagina), with or without removal of the labia majora (larger outer lips)
Type 3 (infibulation) – narrowing of the vaginal opening by creating a seal, formed by cutting and repositioning the labia
Other harmful procedures to the female genitals, including pricking, piercing, cutting, scraping or burning the area.
https://infogr.am/5cc0552a-3e81-4183-96cd-86359d882f73
‘It’s not in any of the holy books’
“I was forcefully pinned down, my legs were spread apart and I felt a sharp cut between my legs. And, at this time, I did not even know what they were cutting, I just knew they were cutting something off my private part,” recalled Sarian Karim Kamare, who underwent FGM in her homeland of Sierra Leone at the age of 11, before moving to the UK.
“It was shocking for me because that was the least (last) thing to come to my mind, that sort (of) violence would happen to me and organised by my own family.”
Sarian, a Christian, says she was blindfolded at a party and, without any sort of anesthetic, her clitoris was removed with a knife.
“They just do that because they feel that I need to be part of the culture and I need to be totally accepted within my community,” she told insiders
“It’s not in any of the holy books. It’s just a cultural practice, a bad practice that was adopted. It’s just to subject women to so much harm, it’s a way of controlling women, especially your sexual urge.
“And it does work, trust me, because once that’s been taken away, it really, really destroys your sexual appetite and things like that.”
Uncovering FGM
English health services have newly recorded the equivalent of 100 FGM cases a week since April last year, when new data collection requirements came into effect.
Th
At least 200 million girls and women in 30 countries are estimated to have undergone female genital mutilation, or FGM.
In the UK, FGM is illegal. The exact scale of those affected is unknown – due to its hidden nature. But the British government estimates at least 170,000 women and girls are living with the consequences of having the procedure – and a further 65,000 girls under the age of 13 are at risk.
There are reports of a black market in the UK. Police also suspect girls are flown out of the country to their family homelands for FGM.
Campaigners say the key to eradicating the practice – treated as criminal abuse in the UK – is education.
What is FGM?
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is defined as a procedure where genitals are cut, injured or changed – and there is no medical justification.
Some refer to it as “female circumcision” or “cutting.”
Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) defines four main types of FGM:
Type 1 (clitoridectomy) – removing part or all of the clitoris
Type 2 (excision) – removing part or all of the clitoris and the inner labia (lips that surround the vagina), with or without removal of the labia majora (larger outer lips)
Type 3 (infibulation) – narrowing of the vaginal opening by creating a seal, formed by cutting and repositioning the labia
Other harmful procedures to the female genitals, including pricking, piercing, cutting, scraping or burning the area.
https://infogr.am/5cc0552a-3e81-4183-96cd-86359d882f73
‘It’s not in any of the holy books’
“I was forcefully pinned down, my legs were spread apart and I felt a sharp cut between my legs. And, at this time, I did not even know what they were cutting, I just knew they were cutting something off my private part,” recalled Sarian Karim Kamare, who underwent FGM in her homeland of Sierra Leone at the age of 11, before moving to the UK.
“It was shocking for me because that was the least (last) thing to come to my mind, that sort (of) violence would happen to me and organised by my own family.”
Sarian, a Christian, says she was blindfolded at a party and, without any sort of anesthetic, her clitoris was removed with a knife.
“They just do that because they feel that I need to be part of the culture and I need to be totally accepted within my community,” she told insiders
“It’s not in any of the holy books. It’s just a cultural practice, a bad practice that was adopted. It’s just to subject women to so much harm, it’s a way of controlling women, especially your sexual urge.
“And it does work, trust me, because once that’s been taken away, it really, really destroys your sexual appetite and things like that.”
Uncovering FGM
English health services have newly recorded the equivalent of 100 FGM cases a week since April last year, when new data collection requirements came into effect.
Th