In relation to females, the World Health Organisation website states:

‘More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been cut in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is concentrated’ and ‘more than 3 million girls are estimated to be at risk from FGM, annually.’

UNICEF’s website states that out of these 200 million girls and women who have had FGM forced on them, more than half live in just three countries and 44 million girls are below the age of 15.

In the UK the true number of girls and women affected by FGM is unknown, although it is estimated that 137,000 have been affected in England and Wales. An FOI request for West Midlands Police revealed that there were 94 cases in a six-month period of 2017 alone. In Scotland, since 2016 to midway through 2017 there are 46 cases known to the police. No arrests or convictions have been made in spite of the West Midlands police commissioner publicly promising arrest and conviction of EVERY instance of FGM.

An officer from West Midlands Police had tweeted out that it isn’t in the child’s best interests to remove them from a home where they have had their genitals mutilated. It was at this point that a public outcry forced the commissioner to delete the tweet and promise the public an arrest would be made for every case of FGM brought to their attention. And, as stated, there have been 94 cases reported to the police in the West Midlands area in a six-month period and from a variety of sources – teachers, neighbours, police, nurses, health visitors, children’s services, foster carers, and so on, yet no arrests.

It’s also very important to note that physical abuse (FGM) also comes with emotional, spiritual and psychological abuse. Parents who would abuse a child’s genitals for cultural, sexual or religious reasons are not going to be raising her with a healthy attitude towards herself since the suggestion behind FGM and the stitching of the vagina is that girls and woman are sinful, incite lust, and can’t be trusted.

Female Genital Mutilation is the partial or total removal of external female genitalia, which includes the clitoris, labia, and the fatty tissue over the pubic bone and the vaginal opening.

There are four types of FGM. All four types are barbaric and there are no health benefits to any of them. Girls can be mutilated at any age, from a few months’ old and into their teens. They are held down, often at times, by willing and eager mothers and grandmothers and a ‘cutter’ will come with a rusty blade and no anaesthetic or painkillers. The immediate effects of FGM are severe and intense pain, shock, fever, bleeding and infections. Death from FGM is a risk and the number of girls who die is unknown. Long-term effects are painful urination, difficulty in passing menstrual blood, painful sex, scar tissue and risk of childbirth complications, depression, anxiety, PSTD and low self-esteem.

The reasons apologists give for continuing the practise of FGM is that it is cultural. Muslims deny that it is a religious mandate espoused by Muhammad but there are hadith (Muslims scream ‘weak hadith, weak hadith’ whilst continuing with the practice). The three top countries where FGM is a cultural norm are Indonesia, Egypt and Ethiopia, although it’s also practised in Afghanistan, Somalia, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen and now, worryingly, the ‘civilised’ UK where FGM is not a cultural norm.

FGM predates Islam but it is Islam that is keeping the practice alive today. Yes, some Christian communities also cut their girls in parts of Egypt and Africa, but you find that when non-Muslims are cutting their girls it is done within, or adjacent to, a Muslim-majority nation or state. It’s a tradition, much like in the West you would have the man ask for the woman’s hand in marriage (something that cuts across religion and becomes a societal norm).

The EGLDAM 2007 survey suggests that the prevalence of FGM amongst Muslims is not only higher but is also changing more slowly than amongst Orthodox and other Christians.

How can we eradicate FGM if we are unable to say one of the reasons for butchering girls’ vaginas is because of religion? That the purity culture of Islam is behind most, but not all, of the girls who are being cut? Islam encourages it and the Prophet even commented on it, advising on a small cut, ‘a sunnah’ to keep girls pure. If we are too scared to state the obvious for fear of upsetting Muslims, fear of racial tension, riots, losing votes and offending people then what is the point of talking about it?

I read that the government is hoping to eradicate FGM in the next generation. This will be a hard task. London is a hotbed of FGM with Southwark having the highest number of reported cases. A report by City University London and Equality Now shows that London, Manchester and Slough are the three places in the UK with the highest instances of FGM.

Multiculturalism is the basic root cause of all of this. The very name suggests that a variety of cultures will be allowed to exist on the same piece of land whilst continuing to practise and keep alive their own cultural habits and laws while being above or outside of UK law. An entire generation of girls and women are suffering with no guarantee that the next generation will be any safer because our police and politicians are failing to impose and uphold UK laws that should apply to everyone.

To placate the public, there was one arrest of FGM in London and a court case in 2105. A doctor at Whittington hospital had stitched a mother back up at her request after she had given birth. The arrest is a joke but the issue shows us the psychological damage that comes with FGM. This mother wanted her vagina stitched back up again into an abnormal state, reinforcing my point that physical abuse does not come without emotional abuse. She will have been brainwashed into thinking that this is what good and chaste women need to do to their vaginas.

This is reminiscent of type 3 FGM known as ‘infibulation’ where part or all of the external genitalia is removed and the wound stitched together with a small hole being left for urine and menstrual blood to pass. All types of infections occur with this type of FGM. Not all of the urine passes through the tiny hole. It burns to pee, and the trapped urine leads to infections. Type 3 needs to be cut open to allow for sexual intercourse and childbirth. Sometimes these women are stitched up again only to be cut open, several times.

FGM has been a criminal offence in the UK since 1985 and in 2003 it was amended to include taking your child out of the country to be cut. Anyone found guilty of this can face up to 14 years in prison. Muslims continue this practise in the UK (as well as some sub-Saharan Christians and atheists who have moved here). But just imagine if white UK-born Christians started mutilating their daughters’ vaginas. Imagine if we were hearing of hundreds of babies and young girls suffering because of FGM being forced on them? Imagine if we had FGM clinics for Christian children opening up in London? The parents of these girls would be arrested and jailed with no respect given to their ‘cultural practices’ because FGM is a criminal offence and also child abuse.

An example should be made of those who allow their daughters to be mutilated. Only then might we see an end to this barbaric and evil practice. If we start jailing parents and carers who allow their daughters to be cut we’ll soon see other parents being less keen to cut their daughters, although it could also simply make them more secretive about the practice. They are already very crafty because they know that FGM is against the law in Britain, but still cutters are flown in to the UK by Muslims and ‘cutting parties’ take place with a number of girls having their genitals mutilated in one sitting.

Smacking and beating one’s child is against the law in the UK and a parent can be punished for it. The cops have no fear of offending an abusive UK parent who beats their child. They don’t turn up at their door and take off their shoes and apologise for offending their cultural sensibilities. Nobody ever says ‘Oh, you beat your child but it’s cultural so we won’t punish you.’ We protect the children first when there is any risk of abuse.

With FGM there is a fear of offending and we have yet to see any parent punished and until we do there is little chance of the next generation of girls being protected, no matter how much you educate and raise awareness. FGM can only be truly eradicated when you punish those who are guilty of this barbaric and horrific crime.

Male genital mutilation has very much become the norm between Jews and Muslims. It desensitizes the penis. Men have to use Vaseline when masturbating, or some form of cream. This is unnatural. The foreskin exists for ease of pleasure. It is also less damaging to the internal walls of the vagina. With a circumcised penis, the penetration has more friction and is more aggressive than with a non-circumcised penis. But that’s an article for another day.

Say no to all types of genital mutilation. It’s a superstitious and barbaric practice that needs to be stamped out for both boys and girls.