The first prosecution in Britain for ritual
female genital mutilation two DECADES
after the scandal was public knowledge

It has been announced today that the first prosecution in Britain for ritual female genital mutilation (FGM) has been launched.

The impression some elements of the media — and certainly a lot of politicians — have been giving is that the discovery of this vile alien mutilation of young girls has only recently been made known to the authorities and that they have been prompted to take action as a result of a recent episode in a BBC TV hospital ‘soap opera’ which dealt with the subject.

In fact the issue of the ritual ‘infibulation’ of African woman, mainly Somalis and Nigerians, was brought to widespread public attention in an issue of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour broadcast nearly two decades ago on Thursday 19th January 1995.

The only publication which gave any significant coverage to that broadcast was the obscure “extreme right wing” paper Choice, published by the late Jane Birdwood (the Dowager Lady Birdwood), whose final ten issues were written (for the most part) and typeset by myself. I attach a Jpg file of the coverage given in Choice, issue No. 26, May 1995.

I also run out below some of yesterday’s media coverage of the issue.

And now, the routine abortion of female babies

Another medical issue which, to its shame, Woman’s Hour — along with all other BBC current affairs programmes and indeed the media in general — is keeping quiet about is the routine abortion of unborn female babies, simply and solely because they female.

This Massacre of the Innocents is being perpetrated by various types of Asian immigrants. How many unborn females are being killed in Britain in this way has not been specified. It must run in to many thousands, perhaps scores of thousands, every year.

Woman’s Hour has been quiet on this topic because the programme is totally dominated by aggressive leftist-feminist harridans who are determined to uphold the current de facto situation of ‘Abortion on Demand’, as distinct from abortion for legally and medically determined reasons, which is what the public thought it was getting from Parliament when the law on abortion was changed in 1967.

The reason why a majority of parliamentary politicians and elements of the media are keeping quiet about this homicidal behaviour is the same reason why they have been so coy about female genital mutilation:

These ghastly facts undermine the lies they have told over the past 60 years about how coloured immigration has brought Britain “cultural enrichment”.

The politicians, along with the Police, are also mindful of the fact that coloured immigrants now constitute at least half of the population of London and a higher proportion than that of many other cities. As the riots in London of August 2011 showed, disaffected alien mobs are willing and able, when “provoked”, to loot and burn down city blocks. Those riots also showed that the Police are now unable and/or unwilling to crush such eruptions.

The Establishment multi-racialists have painted themselves into a corner, and they just do not know what to do.

But we do.

“We are the people of England, and we have not spoken yet.”

Martin Webster.

=======================================================================

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-26639542
BBC News – London – Wednesday 19th March 2014

Female genital mutilation:
London hospitals treat 4,000 patients

Nearly 4,000 women and girls have been treated for female genital mutilation (FGM) in London's hospitals since 2009, according to new figures.

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust treated the most FGM patients, with 1,146 seen over the past five years.

The data was obtained through Freedom of Information requests to NHS Trusts by BBC London 94.9.

London's mayor Boris Johnson said the practice was "absolutely intolerable".

Forty-one hospital trusts were contacted by the BBC with most supplying figures. Six said they did not currently record figures on FGM, while four did not respond.

The remaining 31 trusts reported that a total of 3,939 FGM patients had been treated in London hospitals.

St George's Healthcare NHS Trust treated the second largest number of patients, with a total of 795 seen between 2009 and 2013, eight of whom were born in the UK.

The trust also revealed six girls under the age of 18 had been treated.

Mr Johnson said he was committed to delivering a pilot initiative aimed at improving the way agencies in the capital identify and respond to FGM.

'Barbaric crime'     

"This is a crime basically outlawed in the early-mid 1980s and yet, unlike France, we have not had one single successful prosecution for what is unquestionably a completely barbaric crime," he said.

"It's time to stop being so nervous, so gingerly and hesitant. This is something that is absolutely intolerable in a place like London."

But campaigners say there is a lack of knowledge about how prevalent the practice is and this is hampering social services and the police in the collection of evidence.

Dr Phoebe Abe, a Hillingdon GP, runs a free weekly FGM clinic where she is currently treating 60 women, eight of whom are under 17.

"These women have adhesions, vaginal infections, pelvic inflammatory infections, urine infections - for years they have been having this problems," she said.

Last month the Department of Health announced that, from April, all NHS hospitals will be able to record if a patient has undergone FGM or if there is a family history of it.

By September, all acute hospitals will have to report this data to the department on a monthly basis.

At least 66,000 girls and women in the UK are believed to be victims of FGM.

The children's charity, NSPCC, set up a 24-hour FGM helpline last year.
<https://www.nspcc.org.uk/news-and-views/our-news/child-protection-news/female-genital-mutilation-helpline/fgm-helpline-launched_wda96863.html>

Female genital mutilation
•  FGM includes procedures that alter or injure female genital organs for non-medical reasons
•  About 140 million girls and women worldwide are living with the consequences of FGM
•  Dangers include severe bleeding, problems urinating, infections, infertility and increased risk of newborn deaths in childbirth
•  The practice is mainly carried out by traditional circumcisers, who play other central roles in communities
Source: World Health Organisation

•  Find out more from the WHO
    <http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/>
•  BBC ethics guide: Female circumcision
    <http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/femalecircumcision/femalecirc_1.shtml>

FGM patients treated in London hospitals
• Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust treated 1,146 patients
•  St George's Healthcare NHS Trust treated 795 patients
•  Ealing Hospital NHS Trust treated 633 patients
•  Whittington Health NHS Trust treated 493 patients
•  Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust treated 254 patients

Tackling genital mutilation 'taboo'
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22186436>

Related Stories:

•  Hospitals to log victims of FGM
   <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26049733>
   06 FEBRUARY 2014.
                                         
•  Family scarred by FGM speaks out
   <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26049727>
   05 FEBRUARY 2014.

•  Study to update ritual cutting data
   <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-23404970>
   23 JULY 2013.

•  30 million 'face female mutilation'
   <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23410858>
  22 JULY 2013.

•  Cleric argues for female genital mutilation Watch
   <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22958512>
  19 JUNE 2013.

•  Tackling genital mutilation 'taboo'
   <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22186436>
  24 APRIL 2013,.

•  MPs urge action on female mutilation
   <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22880152>
  13 JUNE 2013.

=======================================================================

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-22186436
BBC News – England – Wednesday 24th April 2013

Tackling female genital mutilation ‘taboo’ in Birmingham
by Clare Lissaman, BBC News

Casualty's decision to feature female genital mutilation (FGM) on primetime television forced a previously "taboo" subject into mainstream debate. BBC News speaks to the professionals fighting to get the practice stopped.

As a midwife on the labour ward of the inner-city Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham, Alison Byrne has seen a lot. But she was unprepared for treating mothers-to-be who had undergone FGM.

In 2002, following an influx of Somali immigrants to the city, the hospital began seeing pregnant woman who had lost most of their external genitalia to extreme cutting.

The women had undergone the procedure - defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as "type three" FGM - mainly as young girls in Somalia, where the cultural tradition dates back thousands of years.

But although she is an experienced health professional, Ms Byrne told BBC News she was still shocked when she first encountered FGM.

"I still am, that hasn't gone, absolutely shocked," she said. "Mortified really, when you hear the stories, devastated for the women. It's just dreadful."

The procedure can lead to a range of health problems and make sexual intercourse and childbirth agonising for women.

"With type three, the baby will not deliver vaginally because the opening is so small due to scar tissue and the damage that's been done," she added.

Ms Byrne said "no one knew what to do" when women with FGM first starting using maternity services at the hospital in Bordesley Green.

But as the number of women - and different communities they came from - increased, Ms Byrne and another midwife pushed for a new specialist service to help them.

20,000 'at risk'     

In 2003, the new African Well Women's Service saw 109 women with FGM. By 2012, this number had more than tripled to about 330.

Ms Byrne says the increase is a direct result of the type of communities settling in that part of Birmingham. The clinic now mainly sees women from Somalia, Sudan, the Gambia and Eritrea.

The specialist midwife is among a number of experts who welcomed the long-running BBC medical drama's portrayal of FGM. The programme featured a pregnant woman and her teenage daughter both suffering pain and complications as a result of it.

"You just need to get the word out there," said Ms Byrne who believes "education and awareness" is the way forward, particularly among affected communities as well as of medical students, midwives and in schools.

All of the women seen at the clinic underwent FGM before their arrival in the UK, but Ms Byrne does fear for the girls born into cultures where it is practised.

Although FGM, or taking someone abroad for the procedure, is illegal in the UK, research by Forward (Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development) found more than 20,000 girls in England and Wales were at risk.

After Casualty's Unsilenced episode aired, West Midlands Police revealed it had looked into 24 reports of FGM last year.

The force, which has already looked into 10 allegations of FGM this year, had no reports of FGM in 2002 and 2003.

It said officers "thoroughly investigate all allegations of FGM" and raise awareness of the practice through communities and professionals in order to protect potential victims.

No-one in the UK has ever been prosecuted under laws introduced in the mid-1980s.

Ms Byrne said FGM was a "very deeply-rooted cultural tradition" carried out as a result of beliefs, such as to stop infidelity and promiscuity or increase a woman's "marriageability". The World Health Organisation defines it in a similar way <http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/> .

The age it is carried out and what is done varies between communities, Ms Byrne said. Some women at the clinic were cut at just seven days old.

She said the procedure, often done without anaesthetic in non-sterile conditions, leads to one in 10 girls dying from blood loss, septicaemia or other complications.

'Many myths'     

Through the clinic, women who have been sewn up can undergo a surgical reversal called deinfibulation, allowing a normal birth and urination.

They can also receive counselling as many are left traumatised by the procedure carried out without their consent as children.

"Even before anything has been done it is the fact the child has been led away," Ms Byrne said. "You can imagine the psychological implications. Sometimes they might be blindfolded."

Naana Otoo-Oyortey, Forward's executive director, said a shortage of evidence and data made it "very difficult to answer" where the procedure was happening in the UK and whether or not it was increasing.


While the number of communities where FGM was practised had increased in the UK, it was impossible to say how many people would still feel under pressure to continue it, she said.

The lack of evidence also made it extremely difficult to prosecute, she told BBC News.

"There's a lot silence from the communities. But it is abuse and should be stopped," she said.

========================================================================

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/mar/19/fgm-women-london-hospitals-female-genital-mutilation
The Guardian – Thursday 20th March 2014

FGM: thousands of women
treated in London hospitals
Figures show nearly 4,000 patients treated in capital
since 2009 after suffering female genital mutilation
by Press Association

Thousands of women have been treated in London hospitals after suffering female genital mutilation.

Figures obtained by BBC London found that 3,939 FGM patients had been treated across 31 NHS hospital trusts in the capital.

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS foundation trust treated 1,146 FGM patients between 2009 and 2013.

St George's Healthcare NHS trust cared for 795 patients, the BBC reported.

Ealing Hospital NHS trust treated 633 patients, while the Whittington Health NHS trust cared for 493 patients.

Last year, health experts warned that the health and social care system was failing young girls who were at risk of FGM – which is classed as torture by the UN.

They said more needed to be done in the UK to safeguard young girls and babies at risk of the brutal procedure.

A report by experts from the Royal College of Midwives, Royal College of Nursing and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the human rights organisation Equality Now and the trade union Unite said there were "gaps in responsiveness" to addressing FGM in the health and social care system.

Officials did not know whom to turn to if they suspected it had been carried out, and if a girl suspected to be at risk was referred to social services the issue may be dropped because some care workers did not feel that FGM lay within their remit, the report said.

There was no accountability in performance of health and social care workers and a lack of consistent data about the issue, the report found. There have been no prosecutions for FGM, even though it has been banned in the UK since 1985.

The home affairs select committee launched an inquiry into FGM in December <http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/dec/18/fgm-inquiry-lack-prosecution-uk-female-genital-mutilation> . The committee chair, Keith Vaz, said at the time: "It is shocking that 28 years on from female genital mutilation first being made a criminal offence, there has not yet been a successful prosecution in the UK.

"The committee's inquiry will seek to find out why this is the case, as well as considering what more needs to be done to protect at-risk girls."

========================================================================

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/help-us-protect-schoolgirls-at-risk-in-the-fgm-cutting-season-8618623.html
Evening Standard – Thursday 16th May 2013

Help us protect schoolgirls at
risk in the FGM ‘cutting season’
Minister Lynne Featherstone tells Anna Davis Londoners
have a duty to alert police about potential mutilation victims
by Anna Davis

All Londoners have a duty to help in the fight against female genital mutilation as the “cutting season” approaches, Lynne Featherstone said today.

Anyone who suspects girls are in danger of being cut during the summer holidays must tell the police, added the International Development Minister.

Experts warn that girls are most at risk of the life-threatening practice during the long break, dubbed “FGM season”, when parents take their daughters home to their mother countries so that there is enough time for them to recover from the procedure before term starts again.

Ms Featherstone  said: “This is everyone’s problem. If a Londoner was concerned about a neighbour and a child ... she or he should have no hesitation in taking that to an authority.

“Although an average Londoner doesn’t have a safeguarding duty in the same way that teachers do, nevertheless they can go to their local authority or police or school and say ‘I am concerned about this child’. If you see something then talk to someone about it. Say you have concerns.”

Naana Otoo-Oyortey, executive director of London-based charity Forward, said: “Safeguarding is everyone’s business. Key professionals have a duty, especially as summer approaches. They need to understand the risk that girls face as well as knowing the appropriate action to take to protect them.”

Ms Featherstone warned that there are girls in London who are already being prepared to go abroad for FGM this summer, and some teachers have already raised concerns with her about “missing” pupils.

More than 65,000 women living in Britain have fallen victim to FGM and a further 30,000 are at risk — the highest figures in Europe. Yet there have been no prosecutions in the UK, something Ms Featherstone said is “frustrating” for the Government.

It has pledged £35 million to eradicate FGM within a generation. The procedure involves cutting off a girl’s external genitals and in many cases her clitoris, and can involve her being sewn shut, causing severe health problems.

The money will help charities that are stamping out the practice in countries including Senegal, which could become the first to abandon it by the end of 2015. But Ms Featherstone admitted that it can be harder to change attitudes in the UK.

“The history of diasporas is that you kind of get stuck in time, so you hold to the traditions and things that meant so much at the time of separation, whereas the mother countries might move on and change.”

She added there have been “cultural eggshells” that have stopped people, including head teachers, speaking out about the issue, and she will be meeting officials at the Department for Education to discuss what more can be done to break the silence.

She said: “It would be great to have a prosecution and send out the message that this is violence against women, it’s child abuse and it’s unacceptable.

‘But the bigger issue has to come from behaviour change, because you are not going to put 20,000 sets of parents in prison in this country.

‘Prosecution would be a good message but this is very deeply embedded. I don’t think we should underestimate that what’s been going on for over 2,000 years can just be turned around.”

MS Featherstone praised the work of Tostan, an organisation in Senegal that has had great success changing attitudes by running a 30-month programme in villages. Its work is supported by London-based charity Orchid Project.

At the end of the project communities hold “declaration ceremonies” where they pledge not to cut their daughters any more amid dancing and celebrating. If research shows this approach would work in London, similar ceremonies could happen here.

The Evening Standard will be reporting on the work being done in Senegal in a series of articles. Ms Featherstone added: “People are very glad to see this issue raised because there has been a veil of silence... the more we keep banging this drum the more people will hear the message and I hope ultimately it will just become something where it seems extraordinary that we used to do that.

“I want to thank the Evening Standard for taking such a strong lead on this. It is fantastic and is having a snowballing effect all of its own.”