Integration? What Integration…?

Jurors were told the defendant was born in Somalia and moved to Kenya at the age of eight during the civil war in Somalia. She was 16 when she came to the UK and was later granted British citizenship. 

The defendant described what had been done to the girl as “Sunnah”, meaning “tradition” or “way” in Arabic, and said it was a practice that had gone on for cultural reasons for many years.

She's 39 years old. And it's as if she was still in her backward original country and not England....

I Bet The Canapes Were Exquisite, Donna...

Ooh, burglary? Rural crime like fly-tipping? Domestic violence? Traveller incursions? 'Hate crimes' committed by those under the age of criminal responsibility?

Is..is this a big thing in Hampshire, then?

February 6 was the United Nations-sponsored annual international day of zero tolerance for FGM.

Ah. Of course. A great excuse for virtue signalling. And rubbing shoulders with all the right people, the better to secure a job when you get kicked out for being a burden on the taxpayer.

PCC Donna Jones spoke at a community event in Hampshire highlighting how important it is to raise awareness and understanding of FGM, to help identify those who may be at risk. The PCC expressed how hard it must be for girls affected by this to come forward, but reassured that she and the police funds specialist service providers to work with communities.

No, actually, they are funded by the long-suffering taxpayer, aren't they? 

H/T: Ian J via email

"How Dare You Step Off The Reservation!"

Girls born to women who have undergone FGM are at a higher risk than any other girls in the country. If a woman has been cut she is likely to see it as the norm or to be in a family where FGM is accepted as a part of the culture. Placing girls on a register is not about targeting communities but actually taking a stand against one of the most horrific forms of violence against women and girls.

We need to move away from the idea that we can “talk” people out of FGM and stop trying to not offend communities.

We have never had a child-centric approach to ending FGM. We have never put the needs of the child first and now is the time to change this.

OMG! Who is this racist, sexist dinosaur?! Marshall the troops, this attack on people of colour must be resisted, what's this ghastly person's name?

Well, it's Nimco Ali. a black woman from the very 'culture' that indulges in FGM itself.

...

...

Oh.

Coming from a community where 98 per cent of the women have undergone FGM, I know this too well. Many of the women who support FGM within my community do so because if they go against FGM then they will have to deal with years of pain and trauma, so for them its easier to cut than deal with the struggle. As a survivor of FGM myself, if I have a daughter she would be on this register. To those who will object to the idea of a register as heavy-handed, please understand that, to end FGM in the UK, these are the steps we have to take.

Bravo!

I hope London will stand with me as I and others launch a campaign to get the Home Office, the Department for Education and the NHS together to make this FGM protection register a reality.

I'd hope so too. But be prepared for an almighty backlash from the progressives and their hangers-on. If there's one thing they cannot abide, it's someone who doesn't toe the party line.

FGM: There Are Indeed Some Fannies That Bear Closer Inspection....

...and they are the ones pushing the 'FGM is an epidemic!' line:

The way FGM statistics are recorded by NHS Digital do not help to clarify the situation.

Or, to translate: "The NHS is so utterly shit at recording stuff, no-one has any chance of finding out the real truth without a lot of work'."

Still, the 'Guardian' has fearlessly put in the work to .... wait, no, it's the 'Daily Mail':

The figures are divided into four types, with further divisions, ranging from the removal of the clitoris to the narrowing of the vaginal opening. They also include women who have had genital piercings rather than any cutting.

Well, most cases of FGM will be cropping up in Essex then! Nor is this a surprise, because wasn't it foretold in The Great Book..?

The term ‘newly recorded’ is used, suggesting these are recent procedures, but the figures include historic cases of women from overseas who have had their details noted for the first time and may have had FGM years earlier.

A likelihood I've pointed out time and again in blogs and on Twitter, to the 'Won't someone think of the chiiiildreeeen!' crackpots.

Indeed, of the 5,391 ‘newly recorded’ cases last year, only 112 involved women and girls born in the UK. Only 57 cases involved FGM undertaken in the UK and around 50 of those were genital piercings.

Which leaves seven cases. Seven!

The remaining seven cases did not involve cutting and there is no indication that they refer to children.

Which leaves a number closer to zero. So why in heaven's name, at a time when we've just had a bomb on the London transport system, are we sending coppers to St Pancras to quiz visitors about it?

Because of the 'Something must be done!' crowd, of course.

Why Try To Run When You Haven't Mastered Walking?

The NSPCC has called on the Government to make sending sexual messages to children illegal as disgraced footballer Adam Johnson makes a second appeal against his conviction for child sex offences.

Excellent timing, NSPCC!

And you'd think they had more important things to worry about, wouldn't you? 

This must be that 'joined up government' people are always saying we need...

The British Civil Service, Folks! Give It A Big Hand!

The mandatory reporting regulations, sent to medical staff by the Department of Health, say that any woman whose labia or clitoris has been pierced must be classed as suffering FGM.

But surely this won’t apply to…

Oh.

The rules will apply even when women have consented to the piercing and had the procedure in the belief that it will improve their sex lives and enhance their attractiveness.

As Tim Worstall points out: “The very same people who insist that a woman can and should be able to do anything she likes with her own pregnancy seem to be the same people who insist that she cannot do what she wants with her own fanny.”

Indeed. But that’s the price you pay for insisting on blanket legislation to avoid pointing fingers at the people who are doing things you want to stop, isn’t it?

It means that each of the women will also be classed as a potential crime victim and that those responsible for carrying out the piercing could be deemed guilty of an offence under legislation banning FGM.

/facepalm

A Department of Health spokesman confirmed the move and said that piercings were a form of FGM even when performed on consenting adult women.

He added: “While there are challenges in this area and adult women may have genital piercings, in some communities girls are forced to have them.

“The World Health Organisation has quite rightly defined this as a form of FGM. We are taking every precaution to record genital piercings that have been done within an abusive context.”

And that’s subject to interpretation and over-zealousness and all the other things we’ve come to expect from agents of the benevolent State, isn’t it?

Were They Pussy Willows..?

Campaigners plant trees in honour of female genital mutilation victims.

Oh, sadly not! That would have been inappropriate, I suppose?

Be Honest, Who’s Surprised By This?

The Crown Prosecution Service said it had decided that “no further action” could be taken in 10 out of 12 cases referred to it by police, and only two files were still being considered for possible criminal charges.

They do, of course, claim they have good reasons. But then, don’t they always?

It said that reasons for vetoing prosecution included the reluctance of one victim to testify against a 35-year-old suspect from London.

A gap in the 1985 law banning FGM in England and Wales made it impossible to prosecute a Somali woman aged 40 who allegedly subjected her daughter to mutilation during a holiday in her homeland.

Three other women, two of whom were arrested at Heathrow, escaped charges because items they possessed — which police believed were going to be used for cutting — could also be used for other “traditional practices” that were lawful.

A 38-year-old London man who threatened to inflict FGM has been told he will not be charged because police were unable to show that he intended to put his words into action.

Hmmm, doesn’t that last one mean that the infamous prosecution of Paul Chambers was even more of a farce and an injustice than we all thought, then?

Wrong Way Round, Surely..?

No you're not. You were subjected to FGM long before you became an American.

I know that I am only here today because of what others have done before me: brave survivor activists such as Nimco Ali, Leyla Hussein, Alimatu Dimonekene and others have broken their silence to empower others to speak more freely.

Isn't there a name missing from that list? What about Ayaan Hirsi Ali?

Whoever Wins, We Lose – Again!

‘We’ not including lawyers, of course. They make out like bandits no matter what...

The Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales believes the UK is in breach of its international law obligations to protect young women and girls from mutilation.

Kirsty Brimelow QC, the committee’s chairwoman, said: “During the period of the UK’s breach, thousands of British girls and young women have been unnecessarily exposed to the risk of mutilation and have suffered irreparable physical and emotional damage. Many could — and should — have been saved.”

And where there's possible dereliction from the State, there's a claim!

Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell QC said: “This authoritative report raises fundamental questions about the government discharging its international obligations.

“It may well be that victims would be entitled to sue the government.”

Stephanie Harrison QC, from Garden Court Chambers, told The Standard: “There is obviously precedent for the State being sued where it has failed in its duty of care.”

But 'the government' doesn't have any money...

Oh, Well, It’s Not Like They Are Using The Time To Teach Them To Read & Write…

The Department for Education has come under growing pressure to write to teachers informing them of the horrors of female genital mutilation, after a petition urging Michael Gove to intervene passed 100,000 signatures just 24 hours after it was put online.

Yes, well, Longrider has something customarily pithy to say about the usefulness of these online petitions...

The shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the education department had to go further and offer both teachers and parents comprehensive training about FGM.

Which parents..? All of them?

For The Children..?

History of a kind was made last week. A doctor appeared before a medical malpractice tribunal in Manchester accused of performing surgery to mutilate the genitals of female babies or young girls.

A medical malpractice tribunal? Why not a court of law? I thought the CPS was supposed to be hot to trot on these cases?

British campaigners against the practice often point admiringly to the more repressive approach adopted in France. Britain has purpose-made laws against female genital mutilation (FGM) but there have been no prosecutions. France has no specific laws against FGM but there have been 29 trials and 100 convictions in the last three decades. We and the French often do things differently. On this issue, are the French right?

Well, why not look at what effect it’s having? Is the incidence of FGM actually reducing in France? There’s anecdotal evidence that it is indeed working:

Has legal repression worked in France? Koudedia Keita, the Malian-born president of a French pressure group against FGM, “Corps en Marche”, believes that it has.

“By the nature of this practice, it is difficult to be sure, but yes, it is my impression that female mutilation has been reduced enormously in France,” Ms Keita said.

But we know the progressives scorn anecdotal evidence (until they want to use some, of course!). So, are there any figures?

In the early 1980s, analysis of the examinations showed that if a mother had been “excisée” (mutilated), there was an 80 per cent chance that her daughter would also have been subjected to FGM. A survey in 2007 suggested this had been reduced to 11 per cent.

Of course, it isn’t all stick and no carrot. It is indeed a multi-pronged approach.

France’s action against FGM is not based purely on repression. There has been an intensive campaign of education. Health and education professionals have been trained to be aware of the problem. Girls are systematically examined for signs of FGM during health checks carried out on babies.

So, who could possibly argue that France isn’t leading the way, then? Well, there’s always one, isn’t there?

Amnesty International, which has campaigned for a Europe-wide approach to FGM, does not believe that legal repression is the answer. Christine Loudes, director of the Amnesty campaign “End FGM” told The Independent: “The debate in the UK about more prosecutions misses the point. Legal repression, although it may have its place, is not the best answer.”

“We need to work with the communities where this happens to try to change attitudes, not to drive the problem further underground. Since the instigator or perpetrator is often the parent, legal action leads to double victimisation of the child. We should consider the best interests of the children before we rush to send their parents to prison.”

That’s a rather odd reason, isn’t it? Would it be applied to any other crime against a child? Would it apply to those abused by their parents?

And if not...why should it apply here?

It's Not A Change In The Law That's Needed...

...it's a change in the attitudes of the public sector:

The DPP revealed the change in tactics yesterday as he responded to the criticism and said he will not hesitate to call for a change in the law.

Pointless. Utterly pointless. Yet more evidence (as if it were needed) that Kier Starmer is as much use as a chocolate teapot...

Ann Clwyd, a Labour MP whose 2003 FGM Act bans girls being taken abroad to have the procedure, said teachers, doctors and police had shown "a lack of sufficient will to confront minority ethnic groups on such an issue".

She added: "It's very nice to get a law through Parliament, but if it isn't acted upon, it isn't worth the paper it's written on."

Starmer's solution? Try a different law!

Mr Starmer said he did not want to repeal existing anti-FGM laws, as that would "send the wrong message", but he conceded "the legislation clearly isn't nearly enough on its own". His FGM "action plan" also pledges to "explore whether evidence to prosecute offences under other legislation is possible and may be easier to support".

He targeted the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act, which creates an offence of "causing or allowing a child or vulnerable adult to die or suffer serious physical harm", as route to tougher action.

Clearly, a man who only has a hammer to solve his problems...

An Association of Chief Police Officers spokesman said: "Detection can be difficult because some children are exposed to the practice before they enter the schooling system. There are dedicated officers working in this area and police will investigate where there is information that such practices are occurring. Officers are working with community representatives to highlight serious health issues that can arise."

Stop 'working with community representatives' and start arresting them!

If it helps to get your outrage on, try to imagine they pinched some 20 year old starlet's bum 30 years ago... 

And stop hiring public health workers from the cultures that tolerate this:

I moved to England in 2011 and, through my work, I have seen women, some Somali, who have needed to have an operation [deinfibulation] to give birth. But when they come back for a second child they have again been sewn up [reinfibulation], so it is possible they are having FGM in the UK. I want to help other ladies. I feel complete but I don't want girls to go through this.

That's a quote from 'Aissa Edon, 30, a midwife working at Ealing Hospital, London.'

What does she do with her information, other than give it to a newspaper reporter? Perhaps a few high-profile trials of those who turn a blind eye will do the trick.

I suggest we start with Aissa.

Monstrous Compromise In The Name Of 'Cultural Sensitivity'

Sometimes the phrase ‘multiculti madness’ is used too often. But I can’t think of a better term for Lakshmi Anantnarayan’s mind-blowing column in CiF.

The sub-heading reads:

Paediatricians have erred by suggesting that 'nicking' female genitalia should be allowed as a cultural compromise.

W...T...F....F?!?

At the end of last month, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued a revised policy statement on female genital mutilation (FGM) called "ritual genital cutting of female minors," suggesting that the federal and state law in the US should permit paediatricians to offer a ritual "nick" of girls' genitalia as a compromise to appease the cultural needs of their immigrant clients.

Ahhh, appeasement. The progressives' favourite word...

International women's rights organisations from the US, Africa, and Europe were quick to respond to this outrageous proposition calling on the AAP to retract its 2010 statement and revert back to its much stronger 1998 statement on the subject.

That's showing admirable restraint, I feel. I'd have been calling for a rusty, dull razor, some twine and some dirty, scummy water....

The AAP's response, however, has thus far been underwhelming and they continue to justify this latest position on three grounds:

• "Nicking" is a minor procedure equivalent to a pin prick or ear piercing and has no harmful health consequences.
• Offering the "nick" demonstrates cultural sensitivity in serving immigrant populations.
• The "nick" is a "compromise" that could prevent families from performing more severe forms of FGM on their daughters

In other words 'Omg! Omg! We can't upset teh minorities! I can haz fudge, plse?'

A 2008 statement on FGM adopted by 10 prominent UN agencies clearly states that, "the guiding principles for considering genital practices as FGM should be those of human rights, including the right to health, the rights of children and the right to nondiscrimination on the basis of sex."

You'd think that would suffice for all but the most barkingly-insane trendy lefty, but no.

How come these people can pass doctor's exams anyway? Is that old 'First, do no harm...' bit now translated as 'First, kowtow to the primitive belief systems of your non-white clients...' or something?

According to a member of the AAP's bioethics committee, the intention behind the revised 2010 policy is to issue a "statement on safety in a culturally sensitive context".

Well, you can shove that as far up your normally-sized and un-mutilated fanny as far as you can get it, chum!

The new policy justifies the shift from the 1998 terminology of "female genital mutilation" to "female genital cutting (FGC) or ritual genital cutting, by claiming that the former is "culturally insensitive language".

*grinds teeth*

Dear god, these people need a brisk slapping to shake them out of their ivory towers and bring them down to the reality of just what those initials stand for. I'd link to some of the videos out there, but they are truly, utterly stomach turning and some of you may be reading this at brakfast...

It further validates paediatricians' offer to "nick" girls genitalia to "satisfy cultural requirements". This raises the question of what culture is being talked about and who are the gatekeepers of this culture that are being appeased – and what is the so-called "cultural identity" being preserved.

Quite.

The AAP must retract its statement.

The AAP needs to be held down by some tribal elders and have that statement forcibly retracted for them....