NYT, 10 June 2017
Author: Pam Belluck
“As more details emerge about the first-ever charges of female genital mutilation in the United States, the case is opening a window onto a small immigrant community, while stirring impassioned discussion about genital cutting among women who have experienced it.”
Find article here.
Tag Archives: Female genital mutilation
US doctors are charged with female genital mutilation for first time
BMJ 2017; 357: j2028
Author: Owen Dyer
“Two Michigan doctors have been charged under a 1996 US federal law against female genital mutilation (FGM), the first people in the US to face such charges.”
Find article here.
Michigan doctor charged with carrying out female genital mutilation
The Guardian, 14 April 2017
Author: Jon Swaine
“Justice department officials said on Thursday that the charges were believed to be the first ever brought under a US law against female genital mutilation that was passed in 1996 and amended in 2013.”
Find article here.
Why doctors need to speak out against female genital cutting in India
The BMJ Blog, 20 January 2017
Author: Aarefa Johari
“What is a doctor’s responsibility, then, in the face of such a ritual? Two of the most basic pillars of medical ethics are to do no harm and to act in the best interests of a patient. Female circumcision has no health benefits and can potentially harm girls and women. For a patient, it serves no scientific or medical interest. In fact, since khatna is not a medical procedure at all, girls being brought to get cut can hardly be called patients. Besides, a seven-year-old is not capable of giving informed consent to the procedure.”
Find article here.
Repeated failure to report female genital mutilation should be a criminal offence, MPs say
BMJ 2016;354:i5038
Author: Clare Dyer
“An influential committee of MPs has called for harsher penalties, beyond the existing professional disciplinary sanctions, against health professionals who do not report cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) to police.”
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Misinformed debates on FGM can harm understanding
BMJ 2016;354:i4804
Author: Susan Bewley
“The BMJ reports that nearly 6000 cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) were identified last year in the UK. The UK Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 states that “A person is guilty of an offence if he excises, infibulates or otherwise mutilates the whole or any part of a girl’s labia majora, labia minora or clitoris.”
Find letter here.
FGM: police and border officers target travellers to high-risk countries
The Guardian, 7 September 2016
Author: Alice Ross
“All families travelling with girls aged under 18 were taken aside for conversations about FGM with police officers and Border Force officials as they stepped off the plane. Similar conversations are taking place in airports across the country, for both arrivals and departures.”
Find article here.
Tough prison sentences ‘will not end FGM in Dagestan’
The Guardian, 23 August 2016
Author: Hajra Rahim, Rachel Horner
“A Russian journalist who reports on female genital mutilation says introducing prison sentences for perpetrators will not bring about an end to the practice, after a report released last week said that FGM was taking place in remote villages in the republic of Dagestan.”
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R v A2; R v Magennis; R v Vaziri (No. 24) [2016] NSWSC 737
Decision 9 June 2016
“Catchwords: CRIMINAL LAW –sentence –two offenders convicted of offences of female genital mutilation against two young girls – s. 45 Crimes Act 1900 – third offender convicted as an accessory after the fact to s. 45 offences – sentences of imprisonment imposed – each offender referred for assessment as to suitability for home detention – whether home detention should be ordered in each case – each offender assessed as suitable in home detention assessment report – where each of the offenders have different subjective cases – where the offender mother (A2) has expressed remorse – where the imposition of full-time custodial sentence upon A2 would act as a double punishment to the victims – where the acts were carried out by an elderly woman (Magennis) who suffers significant health problems – difficulty of managing health problems in custody – general deterrence of particular importance in case of religious leader (Vaziri) – calculated and deliberate acts by religious leader over a period of weeks to deflect police investigation – no finding of remorse in his favour – order that Offender A2 serve sentence by way of home detention – order that Offender Magennis serve sentence by way of home detention – order that Offender Vaziri serve sentence by way of full-time imprisonment”
Find decision here.
First person to be imprisoned over female genital mutilation in Australia
SMH, 14 June 2016
Author: Emma Partridge
“On Thursday, NSW Supreme Court Justice Peter Johnson sentenced Shabbir Mohammedbhai Vaziri, 59, to a minimum 11 months’ jail and maximum 15 months for being an accessory after the fact. “As the religious leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community in Sydney, he had manifested a clear, determined and calculated intention to obstruct the police so that no successful investigation of the use of ‘khatna’ in his own community could be achieved,” Justice Johnston said in a judgment.”
Find article here.