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Wednesday, 25 August 2010

African Female Genital Mutilation on the Rise in Britain

Importing the Third World Part I: Female Genital Mutilation on the Rise in Britain

BNP News http://bnp.org.uk/

Mass immigration has caused the importation of Third World culture on a vast scale into Britain, as evidenced by new figures from the black women’s organisation Forward which estimates that 6,500 girls in the UK are at risk of female genital mutilation every year.
According to Forward, which says that it is “an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) that works to advance and protect the sexual and reproductive health and human rights of African girls and women,” the most common age for girls to be subjected to the procedure is between six and eight years of age.
“The summer holidays are a prime time, because there is an opportunity for a long visit back to the family’s country of origin. And, although it is illegal in the UK, there is evidence that it is nonetheless being performed in the country,” a Forward representative was quoted as saying in a recent report.
“Female genital mutilation is performed for cultural reasons, and justified as a religious requirement, or rite of passage to womanhood. Much like male circumcision, it is supposed to ensure cleanliness and better marriage prospects.
“However, it often has serious and long-lasting physical complications, and St. Thomas’ Hospital in London is one of the centres that deals with those repercussions,” the report continued.
“Midwife Comfort Momoh sees the lasting effects of female genital mutilation, which include cysts on the vagina, and sterility. ‘They’ve removed everything, and stitched it up, leaving a small opening for the passage of menstrual fluid, urine, etc., and they expect the women to have sexual intercourse from this small opening,’ says Momoh, a midwife at St. Thomas’ Hospital.”
According to the report, female genital mutilation is thought to be so prevalent in the UK that local authorities have set up task forces to identify when children are at risk.
The practice that has gone on for centuries in some African and Arabic countries, and it is entrenched in families.
“We acknowledge that in some communities this has been custom and practice. And we acknowledge that some females who’ve had this procedure done to them may feel that it’s appropriate to do it to their own daughters, and this is why it’s an important matter of education, as well as acknowledging that it’s an illegal act,” Andrew Fraser from the London Safeguarding Children Board was quoted as saying.
“The procedure is traditionally carried out by an older woman with no medical training. Anaesthetics and antiseptic treatment are not generally used and the practice is usually carried out using basic tools such as knives, scissors, scalpels, pieces of glass and razor blades. Often iodine or a mixture of herbs is placed on the wound to tighten the vagina and stop the bleeding.”
According to Forward, “it is estimated that approximately 100-140 million African women have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) worldwide and each year, a further 3 million girls are estimated to be at risk of the practice in Africa alone.
“Most of them live in African countries, a few in the Middle East and Asian countries, and increasingly in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America and Canada,” Forward said.