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60 cases of Female Genital Mutilation in Sweden – but not a single prosecution…

August 4th, 2014 | Posted by Ines Laufer in Allgemein | International News - (0 Comments)
In Europe, up to 80% of girls from the High risk-groups are being subjected to Female Genital Mutilation. These crimes only come to light whithin regular medical check ups. But if - like in Sweden - such cases are not being reported to the police and the perpetrating parents remain free, they are being encouraged to continue with these crimes

In Europe, up to 80% of girls from the High risk-groups are being subjected to Female Genital Mutilation. These crimes only come to light whithin regular medical check ups. But if – like in Sweden – such cases are not being reported to the police and the perpetrating parents remain free, they are being encouraged to continue with these crimes

…and no protection of potential victims

In the Swedish town Norrköping, all 30 girls of a learning group have been subjected to Female Gentital Mutilation, as the Newspaper Norrköpings Tidningar reported at the end of June. All victims are members of immigrant families – mostly from Somalia – and have been mutilated in the worst possible way that includes the complete removal of the external Genitalia and the Sewing of the vaginal opening.

These crimes came to light within a pilot project for which Norrköping has been chosen to be the sample city and which includes the medical examination of girls at school. Since March, more than 60 cases of Female Genital Mutilation among minor girls have therefore been detected.

While it is obvious that regular medical controls of the girl’s intactness are the key to consistently identify the victims of FGM, these check ups are still not common in Sweden. Even more: In 2010, the Swedish municipality of Uppsala had been convicted by a federal court to pay 6.000,-€ compensation for prompting the examination of a girl against the will of her parents due to the suspicion of Female Genital Mutilation. The court judged this as a “discriminatory act”…

NO criminal complaint – NO prosecution of the perpetrators – NO protection of potential victims

Sweden has been the first country in Europe to explicitly criminalise Female Genital Mutilation (1982) and to inflict a penalty of up to ten years in prison in case of infringement. But in fact, the perpetrators have been allowed until now to mutilate their daughters without fearing any prosecution.

Even those 60 proven cases in Norrköping will not interrupt this inglorious tradition of letting the perpetrators go unpunished:

As the local police and the state attorney confirmed us, the relevant authorities did not press charges after detecting the girls being victims of FGM. For the police, it is therefore impossible to run the necessary investigations which could lead to appropriate court proceedings against the parents because of the instigation of a severe crime against their daughters.

There are two authorities responsible for this failure. The first one is the School Health Service that discovered the mutilations. Its head, Monika Sannebrink, informed us that her Service merely reported the cases to the Social Service – but she is not willing or not able to explain why she did not report to the police as well. (mehr …)

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What’s the point of the Egyptian Revolution if it doesn’t stop Female Genital Mutilation?

Januar 14th, 2012 | Posted by Ines Laufer in Allgemein | Kommentare - (2 Comments)

Today, over 90% of Egyptian girls face the violence of Female Genital Mutilation - in an environment of general male violence against women, harassment, intimidation, deprivation and oppression

The following great piece from Hank Pellissier dates back to February 2011 – which could explain his obvious optimism that the „revolution“ could have lead to a democratisation.

While today – one year later – there are worries indicated that the signs in Egypt are more pointed to an Islamist regime than to democracy – the essence and questions of this article remain more actual than ever:

„What’s the point of the Egyptian Revolution if it doesn’t stop female genital mutilation?
If girls are chopped bloody, sexually-deducted, was the 18-day struggle at all productive?
Egypt gave itself a Mubarak-tomy – Now its time to end clitoridectomy
Let us condemn F-G-M“ (mehr …)

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Female Genital Mutilation and the culture of violence: Case study Maasai

Juni 16th, 2011 | Posted by Ines Laufer in Allgemein | Entwicklungshilfe | Kommentare - (1 Comments)
After decades of awareness-campaigns, 93 to 99% of Maasai girls are still subjected to Female Genital Mutilation
After decades of awareness-campaigns, 93 to 99% of Maasai girls are still subjected to Female Genital Mutilation

„Don’t meddle with our culture“ – was just recently the message from Maasai-elders in Oloitoktok (Kenya) to the Kenyan government and non-governmental Anti FGM-crusaders:

After decades of awareness- and education-campaigns among the Maasai, the knowledge about the devastating effects does not impress the tribe’s male patriarchs: They insist on the continuation of Female Genital Mutilation by referring to their „culture“.

But what is this „culture“? If we have a look under the surface of the Maasai’s exotic folklore, it becomes obvious that this „culture“ consists first of all of scroupulosly cultivated violence, and oppression against children and the female members of the society .

In fact, this „culture“ contains a perfectly organised, ritualised and perfidly justified excess of women’s enslavement and sadistic male violence.

Just a few examples: (mehr …)

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