Female Genital Mutilation cases on the rise in London.

[Fury]

22 August 2010 Last updated at 12:40 ET

'Rise in female genital mutilation' in London

Female genital mutilation 'rising in London'

The number of cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) reported in London has risen and some procedures are taking place in the city, a doctor has said.
Dr Comfort Momah, who runs a clinic in Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, said she sees 350 women and children a year.

The Met said it was aware that FGM was taking place in London and had intervened in 122 cases since 2008, including 25 times this year.

But it said that as it was a "taboo" subject there had been no prosecutions.

FGM is illegal in the UK and anybody convicted for it can be jailed for up to 14 years. The law protects British citizens even if they undergo the procedure abroad.

Dr Momah, who runs one of the 11 African Well Women Clinics in London, said a majority of the cases she saw were from African countries, including Somalia, Eritrea, Gambia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

'Need to prosecute'

She said: "In London FGM is widely spread and in my clinic we see about 350 women and children with FGM related problems every year and do reversal in about 100 cases every year.

"We do have people calling me or calling other clinics saying I know a circumciser in Leytonstone, I know a doctor who is performing it within the community, but they won't give you the information."

She added that more cases are being reported since 2005.

"I see a lot of teenagers now, self-referring to the clinic and getting information from the internet," the doctor said.

Dr Momah said her clinic sees up to 350 women and children with FGM complications
"We need to prosecute somebody if obviously a child is at risk."

The procedure can cause urinary infections, kidney failure, infertility and death.

Salimata Knight, who underwent the procedure in Senegal, said: "I was forced on the floor and I felt something being cut in me and even at that time I did not know what (it) was because at four-and-half years you are not really aware of what it is.

"It makes people suffer, and suffering has no identity, no race and no culture."

The Met said the number of interventions had risen from 38 in 2008 to 59 in 2009.

Its Project Azure, which engages with the community, said London clinics see about 600 women a year.

Det Con Jason Morgan, from Project Azure, said: "It affects girls, often as young as seven-days-old, so the girl might be too young to remember exactly what happened, where it happened and who did it to them."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-11053375

I'm sure there will be mass outrage from the left on this. Just kidding. Boy, those Muslims sure are doing a terrific job assimilating into European culture!

[MCWAY]

The Muslims will outbreed them, and they'll be facing Mecca while prostrate, within a couple of decades.

The saddest part: They tell you what they're going to do, point blank. But, certain folks get into denial and claim that they mean something other than what they actually say.

[kcballer]

Sad that you choose a terrible subject and misinterpret it as Muslims doing this.  African's have been doing this for centuries.  With and without following Islam.  Are you really this blinded that you blame Islam for something terrible that is done as part of African culture more than it is religious belief? 

[Fury]

Ahh, our misinformed apologist is back at it. You’re so utterly clueless on this topic yet you feel like contributing. Your spin is a nice attempt at deflection. Methinks you should educate yourself on FGM and who is doing it before you stick your nose in threads like these.

Want to take a guess at which country has the highest prevalence of FGM? It’s Egypt. What religion does more than 90% of the Egyptian population practice? That’s right, Islam. It’s also prevalent in many other Muslim countries.  Nor is it African tribesmen that have been immigrating to England in huge numbers but Muslims from North Africa. And surprise, all those countries listed in the article are largely Muslim.

Go embarrass yourself in another thread, apologist trash. Preferably not one of mine.

[Skeletor]

But it said that as it was a "taboo" subject there had been no prosecutions.

Truly shameful and repulsive that the fear of not accepting "multiculturalism" and not "accommodating" the abhorrent traditions of barbarians leads to no prosecution and punishment.

[Fury]

Truly shameful and repulsive that the fear of not accepting "multiculturalism" and not "accommodating" the abhorrent traditions of barbarians leads to no prosecution and punishment.

A few months ago the AMA proposed issuing guidelines regulating a "ceremonial knick" to be cut into the clitoral hood to appease the pro-FGM crowd in this country. Luckily there was some outrage from people and they quickly withdrew it. The fact they even proposed the idea is disgusting.

[Skeletor]

Wtf is wrong with religions (or primitive ideologies) and genital mutilation (of any sort on any gender). Didn't know about the AMA and "ceremonial knicks", that's horrible.

[kcballer]

Ahh, our misinformed apologist is back at it. You’re so utterly clueless on this topic yet you feel like contributing. Your spin is a nice attempt at deflection. Methinks you should educate yourself on FGM and who is doing it before you stick your nose in threads like these.

Want to take a guess at which country has the highest prevalence of FGM? It’s Egypt. What religion does more than 90% of the Egyptian population practice? That’s right, Islam. It’s also prevalent in many other Muslim countries.  Nor is it African tribesmen that have been immigrating to England in huge numbers but Muslims from North Africa. And surprise, all those countries listed in the article are largely Muslim.

Go embarrass yourself in another thread, apologist trash. Preferably not one of mine.

hahaha you're drawing false conclusions based on what exactly?  If it's such an Islamic practice why is it so prevalent in Africa and not taking over heavily muslim dominated countries in such large numbers?  Perhaps because it's more cultural.  It's always so fun to prove your stupidity.  

[Fury]

hahaha you're drawing false conclusions based on what exactly?  If it's such an Islamic practice why is it so prevalent in Africa and not taking over heavily muslim dominated countries in such large numbers?  Perhaps because it's more cultural.  It's always so fun to prove your stupidity.  

Except that it is prevalent in Muslim countries, including those in the Middle East. Every single one of those countries mentioned is predominantly Muslim, bright spot. It's well documented that FGM is practiced across the Middle East, although they're more secretive and less open about it. It has about a 75% prevalence rate in Iraqi Kurdistan (a Muslim area), and the last time I checked, Iraq isn't in Africa. Maybe it's up and moved to Africa, though. Can you confirm that? Bah, nevermind. It's also practiced in Southeast Asian countries where there are significant Muslim populations so I couldn't care less as to whether or not Iraq is in Africa.  

You suffer from severe reading comprehension issues. It's always so fun embarrassing your grossly uninformed apologist stance, though. Thanks for playing.

[kcballer]

haha please who me where it's in the Islamic religious texts....

That would prove once and for all that it is in fact a religious and not cultural act. 

I'll wait.

[Fury]

haha please who me where it's in the Islamic religious texts....

That would prove once and for all that it is in fact a religious and not cultural act.  

I'll wait.

Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:

Circumcision is not an inherited custom as some people claim, rather it is prescribed in Islam and the scholars are unanimously agreed that it is prescribed. Not a single Muslim scholar – as far as we know – has said that circumcision is not prescribed.

Their evidence is to be found in the saheeh ahaadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), which prove that it is prescribed, for example:

1-

The hadeeth narrated by al-Bukhaari (5889) and Muslim (257) from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The fitrah is five things – or five things are part of the fitrah – circumcision, shaving the pubes, cutting the nails, plucking the armpit hairs, and trimming the moustache."

This hadeeth includes circumcision of both males and females.

2-  

Muslim (349) narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When a man sits between the four parts (arms and legs of his wife) and the two circumcised parts meet, then ghusl is obligatory.”

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) mentioned the two circumcised parts, i.e., the circumcised part of the husband and the circumcised part of the wife, which indicates that a woman may be circumcised just like a man.

3-

Abu Dawood (5271) narrated from Umm ‘Atiyyah al-Ansaariyyah that a woman used to do circumcisions in Madeenah and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to her: “Do not go to the extreme in cutting; that is better for the woman and more liked by the husband.” But the scholars differed concerning this hadeeth. Some of them classed it as da’eef (weak) and others classed it as saheeh. It was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood. The fact that circumcision for women is prescribed in Islam is confirmed by the ahaadeeth quoted above, not by this disputed hadeeth. But the scholars differed concerning the ruling, and there are three opinions:

1 – That it is obligatory for both males and females. This is the view of the Shaafa’is and Hanbalis, and is the view favoured by al-Qaadi Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi among the Maalikis (may Allaah have mercy on them all).

Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in al-Majmoo’ (1/367): Circumcision is obligatory for both men and women in our view. This is the view of many of the salaf, as was narrated by al-Khattaabi. Among those who regarded it as obligatory is Ahmad… it is the correct view that is well known and was stated by al-Shaafa’i (may Allaah have mercy on him), and the majority stated definitively that it is obligatory for both men and women. end quote.

See Fath al-Baari, 10/340; Kishshaaf al-Qinaa’, 1/80

2 – That circumcision is Sunnah for both males and females. This is the view of the Hanafis and Maalikis, and was narrated in one report from Ahmad. Ibn ‘Aabideen al-Hanafi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in his Haashiyah (6/751): In Kitaab al-Tahaarah of al-Siraaj al-Wahhaaj it says: Know that circumcision is Sunnah in our view – i.e., according to the Hanafis – for men and for women. end quote.

See: Mawaahib al-Jaleel, 3/259

3 – That circumcision is obligatory for men and is good and mustahabb for women. This is the third view of Imam Ahmad, and it is the view of some Maalikis such as Sahnoon. This view was also favoured by al-Muwaffaq ibn Qudaamah in al-Mughni.

See: al-Tamheed, 21/60; al-Mughni, 1/63

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (5/223):

Circumcision is one of the Sunnahs of the fitrah, and it is for both males and females, except that is it obligatory for males and Sunnah and good in the case of women. End quote

Thus it is clear that the fuqaha’ of Islam are agreed that circumcision is prescribed for both males and females, and in fact the majority of them are of the view that it is obligatory for both. No one said that it is not prescribed or that it is makrooh or haraam.

Secondly:

With regard to the criticism of circumcision by some doctors, and their claim that it is harmful both physically and psychologically,

This criticism of theirs is not valid. It is sufficient for us Muslims that something be proven to be from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), then we will follow it, and we are certain that it is beneficial and not harmful. If it were harmful, Allaah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would not have prescribed it for us.

In the answer to question no. 45528 we have mentioned some of the medical benefits of circumcision for women, quoting from some doctors.

Thirdly:

We would add here the fatwas of some modern scholars who have responded to this war that has been launched against female circumcision on the grounds that it is harmful to health.

Shaykh Jaad al-Haqq ‘Ali Jaad al-Haqq, the former Shaykh of al-Azhar, said:

Hence the fuqaha’ of all madhhabs are agreed that circumcision for both men and woman is part of the fitrah of Islam and one of the symbols of the faith, and it is something praiseworthy. There is no report from any of the Muslim fuqaha’, according to what we have studied in their books that are available to us, to say that circumcision is forbidden for men or women, or that it is not permissible, or that it is harmful for females, if it is done in the manner that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught to Umm Habeebah in the report quoted above.

Then he said:

From the above it is clear that the circumcision of girls – which is the topic under discussion here – is part of the fitrah of Islam, and the way it is to be done is the method that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) explained. It is not right to abandon his teachings for the view of anyone else, even if that is a doctor, because medicine is knowledge and knowledge is always developing and changing. End quote.

In the fatwa of Shaykh ‘Atiyah Saqar – the former heard of the Fatwa Committee in al-Azhar – it says:

The calls which urge the banning of female circumcision are call that go against Islam, because there is no clear text in the Qur’aan or Sunnah and there is no opinion of the fuqaha’ that says that female circumcision is haraam. Female circumcision is either obligatory or recommended. Even though there is a fiqhi principle which says that the decree of a ruler may put an end to a dispute regarding controversial matters, the decree of the ruler in this case cannot be but either of two things: that it is either obligatory or recommended, and it is not correct to issue a decree banning it, so as not to go against sharee’ah which is the principal source of legislation in our land, whose constitution states that Islam is the official religion of the country. It is permissible to issue some legislation that provides guidelines for performing this procedure (female circumcision) in the proper manner in such a way that does not contradict the rulings of sharee’ah.

The words of the doctors and others are not definitive. Scientific discoveries are still opening doors every day which change our old perceptions. End quote.

In the fatwa of Dar al-Ifta’ al-Misriyyah (6/1986) it says:

Thus it is clear that female circumcision is prescribed in Islam, and that it is one of the Sunnahs of the fitrah and it has a good effect of moderating the individual’s behaviour. As for the opinions of doctors who say that female circumcision is harmful, these are individual opinions which are not derived from any agreed scientific basis, and they do not form an established scientific opinion. They acknowledge that the rates of cancer among circumcised men are lower than among those who are not circumcised, and some of these doctors clearly recommend that circumcision should be done by doctors and not these ignorant women, so that the operation will be safe and there will be no negative consequences.  However, medical theories about disease and the way to treat it are not fixed, rather they change with time and with ongoing research. So it is not correct to rely on them when criticizing circumcision which the Wise and All-Knowing Lawgiver has decreed in His wisdom for mankind. Experience has taught us that the wisdom behind some rulings and Sunnahs may be hidden from us. May Allaah help us all to follow the right path. End quote.

Islam Q&A


Thanks for playing. Now fuck off. See you in a month or two when you feel like embarrassing yourself again.

"Smells like......victory."

[kcballer]

Interesting that none of that comes from the Qur'an.  Everything else is just opinion of the person who said it based on nothing that has come from the undisputed book on Islam - the Qur'an.  I can post quotes from Islamic Scholars denouncing it as not a part of Islam. 

So if it's not in the Qur'an it's not part of the Islamic religion but apart of the culture of those that practice it. 

Praying towards mecca is apart of the Islamic religion why? Because it's apart of the Qur'an and all Muslims practice it.  When something is done by a minority of people and it's not in fact written in the religious book they follow that would lead me to believe it is not in fact religious in nature but more a cultural and geographical issue. 

"Those who consider (female) circumcision a sunna, use as evidence this hadith of Abu al-Malih, which is based solely on the evidence of Hajjaj ibn Artaa, who cannot be admitted as an authority when he is the sole transmitter. The consensus of Muslim scholars shows that circumcision is for men"

Smells like...fail for you.

[Fury]

Interesting that none of that comes from the Qur'an.  Everything else is just opinion of the person who said it based on nothing that has come from the undisputed book on Islam - the Qur'an.  I can post quotes from Islamic Scholars denouncing it as not a part of Islam.  

So if it's not in the Qur'an it's not part of the Islamic religion but apart of the culture of those that practice it.  

Praying towards mecca is apart of the Islamic religion why? Because it's apart of the Qur'an and all Muslims practice it.  When something is done by a minority of people and it's not in fact written in the religious book they follow that would lead me to believe it is not in fact religious in nature but more a cultural and geographical issue.  

"Those who consider (female) circumcision a sunna, use as evidence this hadith of Abu al-Malih, which is based solely on the evidence of Hajjaj ibn Artaa, who cannot be admitted as an authority when he is the sole transmitter. The consensus of Muslim scholars shows that circumcision is for men"

Smells like...fail for you.

Sorry, the Quran is not the only holy book in Islam. The Hadith is widely regarded as being just about as important as the Koran by most Muslims. I do find it amusing how Muslims will scream its importance when it suits them and then claim it's not important when it doesn't suit their agenda (usually because of the sheer amount of brutality, violence and other atrocities like pedophilia rampant in it). I suggest you take a month or two off again, do some reading and then come back and try to own me. You're batting .000 here and it doesn't look that's going to change anytime soon.

I like that you're arguing against an Islamic scholar, though. Especially given that you've shown yourself to be borderline brain-dead on most things Islam. Keep up the good work, stud. Meanwhile, I'll find myself more likely to believe the word of an Islamic authority over the word of a clueless apologist who is incapable of refuting most points due to lack of knowledge.  

Smells like....you're still a joke.

[kcballer]

hahaha so some disputed hadeeth is now basis that it's a Islam's fault?  Even the WHO recognizes it primarily as a cultural issue and practice.  Get your head out of the sand son and open your eyes.  Not everything is Islam's fault and this certainly isn't in any reputable and widely accepted texts.  It has no mention in the Qur'an and so you've gone to disputed sources that plenty of Islamic scholars call bullsh*t on.  Congrats you've proven nothing but your own bigoted mind will believe anything if it's against Islam.

[Fury]

hahaha so some disputed hadeeth is now basis that it's a Islam's fault?  Even the WHO recognizes it primarily as a cultural issue and practice.  Get your head out of the sand son and open your eyes.  Not everything is Islam's fault and this certainly isn't in any reputable and widely accepted texts.  It has no mention in the Qur'an and so you've gone to disputed sources that plenty of Islamic scholars call bullsh*t on.  Congrats you've proven nothing but your own bigoted mind will believe anything if it's against Islam.

Blah, blah, bigot this, racist that, islamophobe this. You made a fool of yourself the last time you threw those statements around yet I see you're still doing it. You've already had your argument picked apart. Now go away and educate yourself.

You should stick to throwing around threads about some "Christian" family killing each other over a soccer game or whatever stupid shit it is that you post like the good little uninformed Christian and Jew hating apologist (see, I can do it, too!) that you are, kid.

By the way, the Hadith is hardly disputed. There is a VERY small group of Muslims referred to as "Quran-only Muslims" that discredit the Hadith, but they make up less than 1% of the Muslim population.

Thanks for trying to spin my argument, though. Again, thanks for playing. See you next time!  

[Dos Equis]

haha please who me where it's in the Islamic religious texts....

That would prove once and for all that it is in fact a religious and not cultural act. 

I'll wait.

BF I don't think providing him with quotes from "Islami religious texts" was enough, even though that's what he asked for. 

[Fury]

BF I don't think providing him with quotes from "Islami religious texts" was enough, even though that's what he asked for.  

He can thump his chest about the African tribes until he's blue in the face but the fact that it’s practiced in Iraq, Yemen and even seen in Indonesia and other Southeast Asian areas where Muslims are prevalent does not lend credence to that killer theory of his.

The entire argument can be summed up quite simply. It wouldn’t be accepted or practiced in ANY Islamic cultures if their holy books were explicitly against it.

Arguing with him is pointless.

[Fury]

Is Female Genital Mutilation an Islamic Problem?
by Thomas von der Osten-Sacken and Thomas Uwer
Middle East Quarterly
Winter 2007, pp. 29-36

Among social activists and feminists, combating female genital mutilation (FGM) is an important policy goal. Sometimes called female circumcision or female genital cutting, FGM is the cutting of the clitoris of girls in order to curb their sexual desire and preserve their sexual honor before marriage. The practice, prevalent in some majority Muslim countries, has a tremendous cost: many girls bleed to death or die of infection. Most are traumatized. Those who survive can suffer adverse health effects during marriage and pregnancy. New information from Iraqi Kurdistan raises the possibility that the problem is more prevalent in the Middle East than previously believed and that FGM is far more tied to religion than many Western academics and activists admit.

Many Muslims and academics in the West take pains to insist that the practice is not rooted in religion[1] but rather in culture. "When one considers that the practice does not prevail and is much condemned in countries like Saudi Arabia, the center of the Islamic world, it becomes clear that the notion that it is an Islamic practice is a false one," Haseena Lockhat, a child clinical psychologist at North Warwickshire Primary Care Trust, wrote.[2] True, FGM occurs in non-Muslim societies in Africa. And in Arab states such as Egypt, where perhaps 97 percent of girls suffer genital mutilation,[3] both Christian Copts and Muslims are complicit.

But at the village level, those who commit the practice believe it to be religiously mandated. Religion is not only theology but also practice. And the practice is widespread throughout the Middle East. Many diplomats, international organization workers, and Arabists argue that the problem is localized to North Africa or sub-Saharan Africa,[4] but they are wrong. The problem is pervasive throughout the Levant, the Fertile Crescent, and the Arabian Peninsula, and among many immigrants to the West from these countries. Silence on the issue is less reflective of the absence of the problem than insufficient freedom for feminists and independent civil society to raise the issue.

Detecting Female Genital Mutilation

It is perhaps understandable that many diplomats and academics do not recognize the scope of the problem. Should someone wish to understand the sexual habits of Westerners, he would not face a difficult task. He could survey personal advertisements, watch talk shows, and read magazine articles explaining the best ways to enhance sexual experience, not to mention numerous scientific publications on sex and gender relations. Public knowledge of trivial and even painful matters is incumbent in Western culture. The multitude of sexual habits and gender relations represents a vital element of life in the West, much the same as the economy, politics, sports, and culture.

If, however, someone wants to study sexual relations and habits in Middle Eastern societies, it would be difficult to find comparable traces in public. Almost everything connected with sexuality and personal relations is hidden in a private sphere. Advisory books and research on sexual habits are almost nonexistent beyond comprehensive rules and prohibitions outlined by Islamic law or, in Shi'ite societies, beyond the questions and responses submitted to senior ayatollahs. Sex education is not taught at the university, let alone in any high school. Psychology remains a shadow discipline, almost absent in the eastern Middle East and only slightly more present in North Africa where more than a century of French rule offered more opportunity for it to take root. The Library of the British Psychoanalytical Society, for example, holds only one journal on psychotherapy or psychoanalysis in Arabic. Arab psychoanalyst Jihad Mazarweh gave an interview in the German weekly Die Zeit in which he said, "For most people, speaking about sexuality, as it happens in psychoanalysis, is almost unthinkable."[5] It would be a mistake to interpret lack of public discussion of many sexual issues in the Middle East as indicative of a lack of problems. Rather, the silence only reflects the strength of taboo.

Female genital mutilation has been a top priority for United Nations agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) for almost three decades. As early as 1952, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution condemning the practice.[6] International momentum against the practice built when, in 1958, the Economic and Social Council invited the World Health Organization to study the persistence of customs subjecting girls to ritual operations.[7] They repeated their call three years later.[8] The 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women denounced the practice,[9] and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child identified female genital mutilation as a harmful traditional practice.[10] According to the Demographic and Health Surveys Program, a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development to assist in undertaking medical and reproductive health surveys, FGM affects 130 million women in twenty-eight African countries.[11] Rather than diminishing as countries modernize, FGM is expanding.[12]

Anthropologists and activists identify three main types of FGM. Pharaonic circumcision refers to the removal of the entire clitoris; the labia minora and medial part of the labia majora are cut with both sides of the organ stitched together to leave only a small opening. Clitorectomy requires the removal of the entire clitoris along with part of the labia minora. Sunna circumcision, the most common form in the Islamic world, requires removal of the prepuce of the clitoris.

Genital Mutilation: An African Phenomenon?

Many experts hold that female genital mutilation is an African practice. Nearly half of the FGM cases represented in official statistics occur in Egypt and Ethiopia; Sudan also records high prevalence of the practice.[13] True, Egypt is part of the African continent but, from a cultural, historical, and political perspective, Egypt has closer ties to the Arab Middle East than to sub-Saharan Africa. Egypt was a founding member of the Arab League, and Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser came to personify Arab nationalism between 1952 until his death in 1970. That FGM is so prevalent in Egypt should arouse suspicion about the practice elsewhere in the Arab world, especially given the low appreciation for women's rights in Arab societies. But most experts dismiss the connection of the practice with Islam. Instead, they explain the practice as rooted in poverty, lack of education, and superstition.

Few reports mention the existence of FGM elsewhere in the Middle East, except in passing. A UNICEF report on the issue, for example, focuses on Africa and makes only passing mention of "some communities on the Red Sea coast of Yemen." UNICEF then cites reports, but no evidence, that the practice also occurs to a limited degree in Jordan, Gaza, Oman, and Iraqi Kurdistan.[14] The German semigovernmental aid agency, the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, reports that FGM is prevalent in twenty-eight African countries but only among small communities "in a few Arab and Asian countries (e.g., Yemen, a few ethnic groups in Oman, Indonesia, and Malaysia).[15] Some scholars have asserted that the practice does not exist at all in those countries east of the Suez Canal.[16] Such assertions are wrong. FGM is a widespread practice in at least parts of these countries.[17]

Latest findings from northern Iraq suggest that FGM is practiced widely in regions outside Africa. Iraqi Kurdistan is an instructive case. Traditionally, Kurdish society is agrarian. A significant part of the population lives outside cities. Women face a double-burden: they are sometimes cut off from even the most basic public services and are subject to a complex of patriarchal rules. As a result, living conditions for women are poor. Many of the freedoms and rights introduced by political leaders in Iraqi Kurdistan after the establishment of the safe-haven in 1991 are, for many women, more theoretical than actual.

In early 2003, WADI, a German-Austrian NGO focusing on women's issues,[18] started to work with mobile teams to take medical aid and social support to women in peripheral Kurdish areas such as in the Garmian region of Iraqi Kurdistan. These all-female teams consisting of a physician, a nurse, and a social worker built trust and opened doors in local communities otherwise sealed against outsiders. After more than a year of working in the area, women began to speak about FGM. Kurds in the area practice Sunna circumcision. Midwives often perform the operation with unsterilized instruments or even broken glass and without anesthesia on girls four to twelve years old. The extent of mutilation depends on the experience of the midwife and the luck of the girl. The wound is then treated with ash or mud with the girls then forced to sit in a bucket of iced water. Many Kurdish girls die, and others suffer chronic pain, infection, and infertility. Many say they suffer symptoms consistent with posttraumatic stress disorder syndrome.[19]

Subsequent research found that 907 out of 1,544 women questioned had undergone genital circumcision, a cutting rate of nearly 60 percent.[20] Follow-up research in the Irbil and Kirkuk governorates suggests rates of FGM consistent with those in Garmian. Nearly every woman questioned declared FGM to be a "normal" practice. Most women referred to the practice as both a tradition and a religious obligation. When asked why they subject their daughters to the operation, many women respond "it has always been like that." Because the clitoris is considered to be "dirty" (haram, the connotation is forbidden by religion), women fear that they cannot find husbands for their daughters if they have not been mutilated; many believe men prefer sex with a mutilated wife. Others stress the religious necessity of FGM even though Islamic law is unclear with regard to FGM. While Western scholars may dismiss the religious roots of the practice, what counts is that many Islamic clerics in northern Iraq advise women to practice FGM. Should a woman consider abandoning the practice, she must be aware that she could appear as disreputable in the public eye.[21] Men usually avoid offering a clear statement about whether FGM is a good practice; rather, they refer to FGM as a female practice in which men should not interfere. None of the men said he had ever discussed the question with his wife.[22]

The reaction of locals to the findings has been instructive. When confronted with the study results, only a few women's activists in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya expressed surprise although most said they did not realize just how high a proportion of women was affected.[23] While a local researcher and women's rights activist Ronak Faraj had published a study on female circumcision in Sulaimaniya in 2004,[24] the fact that an international NGO had become aware of the problem bolstered public attention. While many Kurdish authorities were at first reluctant to address the issue for fear that the Kurdish region might appear backward, they now acknowledge the problem and are working to confront it with both an awareness campaign and with legislation.[25] But some members of influential Islamic and Arabic organizations in the diaspora scandalized the findings, accusing WADI of trying to insult Islam and spread anti-Islamic propaganda. Tarafa Baghajati and Omar al-Rawi, both members of the Initiative of Muslim Austrians, called the data part of an "Islamophobic campaign" and declared no FGM exists in Iraq.[26] That Islamic and Arabic organizations in Austria, for example, make such arguments is indicative of the problem affecting FGM data: these groups believe that if there are no such anti-FGM campaigns or studies, then they can bypass an embarrassing problem.

Such campaigns take time. In Egypt, anti-FGM education campaigns inaugurated in the mid-1990s are only now bearing fruit.[27] The idea that rooted practices cannot be changed is false. For centuries, foot-binding crippled Chinese women. An anti-foot-binding society formed only in 1874, but the activists were successful in scaling back and, eventually, eliminating the practice.[28] In Western societies, too, open public discourse on sexuality became possible only by persistent struggle in the face of stark opposition. The heated reactions to the 1948 Kinsey Report—and the portion concerning female sexuality published in 1953—are a case in point.[29]

How Widespread Is Female Genital Mutilation?

The discovery of widespread FGM in Iraqi Kurdistan suggests the assumption to be incorrect that FGM is primarily an African phenomenon with only marginal occurrence in the eastern Islamic world. If FGM is practiced at a rate of nearly 60 percent by Iraqi Kurds, then how prevalent is the practice in neighboring Syria where living conditions and cultural and religious practices are comparable? According to Fran Hosken, late founder of the Women's International Network News and author of groundbreaking research on FGM in 1975, "There is little doubt that similar practices—excision, child marriage, and putting rock salt into the vagina of women after childbirth—exist in other parts of the Arabian Peninsula and around the Persian Gulf." [30] That no firsthand medical records are available for Saudi Arabia or from any other countries in that region does not mean that these areas are free of FGM, only that the societies are not free enough to permit formal study of societal problems. That diplomats and international aid workers do not detect FGM in other societies also should not suggest that the problem does not exist. After all, FGM was prevalent in Iraqi Kurdistan for years but went undetected by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and many other international NGOs in the region. Perhaps the most important factor enabling an NGO to uncover FGM in Iraqi Kurdistan was the existence of civil society structures and popular demand for individual rights. Such conditions simply do not exist in Syria, Saudi Arabia, or even the West Bank and Gaza where local authorities fight to constrain individual freedoms rather than promote them.

But the problem is not only that autocratic regimes tend to suppress the truth. There also must be someone in place to conduct surveys. Prior to Iraq's liberation, it was impossible to undertake independent surveys on issues such as malnutrition and infant mortality. Saddam Hussein's regime preferred to supply data to the U.N. rather than to enable others to collect their own data which might not support the conclusions the Baathist regime desired to show. The oft-cited 1999 UNICEF study claiming that U.N. sanctions had led to the deaths of 500,000 children was based on figures supplied by Saddam's regime, not an independent survey.[31] The U.N. undertook its first reliable statistical research on the living conditions in Iraq only after liberation.[32] Syrian, Saudi, and Iranian authorities simply do not let NGOs operate without restriction, especially when they deal with sensitive social issues.

Taboo—not social but political—is another factor undercutting research on FGM in Arab countries. Many academics and NGO workers in the region find it objectionable to criticize the predominant Muslim or Arab cultures. They will bend over backwards to avoid the argument that FGM is rooted in Arab or Muslim cultures even though no one argues that FGM is exclusively an Arab or Muslim problem. Statistical data from African countries indicate no clear relationship between FGM and a specific religion.[33] Still, this does not mean that the causes of FGM do not vary across regions and that religion has no influence. As California State University anthropologist Ellen Gruenbaum has explained, "People have different and multiple reasons [for FGM] … For some it is a rite of passage. For others it is not. Some consider it aesthetically pleasing. For others, it is mostly related to morality or sexuality."[34] Hanny Lightfoot-Klein, an internationally known expert on FGM who spent years in Kenya, Egypt, and Sudan, explains that "it is believed in the Sudan that the clitoris will grow to the length of a goose's neck until it dangles between the legs, in rivalry with the male's penis, if it is not cut."[35]

Most studies speak of "justifications"[36] and "rationalizations"[37] for FGM but do not speak of causes since this could implicate Islamic rules relating to women and sexual morality. Islam is regarded as a wrong "justification," often with a citation that the Qur'an does not require FGM. That many women in northern Iraq—and presumably many women in Egypt—believe that the practice is rooted in religion is a factor ignored by Western universities and international organizations.

Islamic Scholars on Female Genital Mutilation

Islamic scholars disagree on FGM: some say no obligatory rules exist while others refer to the mention of female circumcision in the Hadith. According to Sami A. Aldeeb Abu Sahlieh, a Palestinian-Swiss specialist in Islamic law:

The most often mentioned narration reports a debate between Muhammed and Um Habibah (or Um 'Atiyyah). This woman, known as an exciser of female slaves, was one of a group of women who had immigrated with Muhammed. Having seen her, Muhammad asked her if she kept practicing her profession. She answered affirmatively, adding: "unless it is forbidden, and you order me to stop doing it." Muhammed replied: "Yes, it is allowed. Come closer so I can teach you: if you cut, do not overdo it, because it brings more radiance to the face, and it is more pleasant for the husband."[38]

Abu Sahlieh further cited Muhammad as saying, "Circumcision is a sunna (tradition) for the men and makruma (honorable deed) for the women."[39]

While some clerics say circumcision is not obligatory for women, others say it is. "Islam condones the sunna circumcision … What is forbidden in Islam is the pharaonic circumcision,"[40] one religious leader explained. Others, such as the late rector of Al-Azhar University, Sheikh Gad al-Haq, said that since the Prophet did not ban female circumcision, it was permissible and, at the very least, could not be banned.[41]

In short, some clerics condemn FGM as an archaic practice, some accept it, and still others believe it to be obligatory. It is the job of clerics to interpret religious literature; it is not the job of FGM researchers and activists. There is a certain tendency to confuse a liberal interpretation of Islam with the reality women face in many predominately Islamic regions. To counter FGM as a practice, it is necessary to accept that Islam is more than just a written text. It is not the book that cuts the clitoris, but its interpretations aid and abet the mutilation.

[Fury]

Conclusions

There are indications that FGM might be a phenomenon of epidemic proportions in the Arab Middle East. Hosken, for instance, notes that traditionally all women in the Persian Gulf region were mutilated.[42] Arab governments refuse to address the problem. They prefer to believe that lack of statistics will enable international organizations to conclude that the problem does not exist in their jurisdictions. It is not enough to consult Islamic clerics to learn about the mutilation of girls in Islamic societies—that is like asking the cook if the guests like the meal. U.N. agencies operating in the region ignore FGM statistics saying they have no applicable mandate to gather such data. Hosken describes it as a cartel of silence: men from countries were FGM is practiced "enjoy much influence at the U.N."[43] and show no interest in tackling pressing social problems.

To tackle the problem, Western countries and human rights organizations need to continue to break down the wall of silence and autocracy that blights the Arab Middle East and better promote the notion of individual rights. They should withhold conclusions about the breadth of FGM and, for that matter, other social problems or political attitudes until they can conduct independent field research.

Thomas von der Osten-Sacken and Thomas Uwer are, respectively, managing director and board member of WADI.

Update from June 17, 2010: In this fresh study by Human Rights watch, which examines FGM in Kurdistan, the striking and disturbing thing is the extent to which Kurdish authorities have gone to minimize the problem and to ridicule the report's conclusion. This is a repeated feature of official responses to this and other problems across the region, where fear of embarrassment before world opinion carries greater weight than the damage done to women, young girls, and babies. -- The Editors

Notes

[1] See, for example, Marie José Simonet, "FMG: Sunna oder Verbrechen aus Tradition," stopFMG.net, Vienna, June 24, 2005.
[2] Haseena Lockhat, Female Genital Mutilation: Treating the Tears (London: Middlesex University Press, 2004), p. 16.
[3] Weibliche Genitalverstümmelung: Geschichte, Ausmaß, Formen und Folgen (Vienna: Renner Institut, 2004), p. 6.
[4] See, for example, Innocenti Digest: Changing a Harmful Social Convention: Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (Florence: UNICEF, 2005).
[5] Die Zeit (Hamburg), May 11, 2006.
[6] See, for example, Changing a Harmful Social Convention, p. VII.
[7] "Fact Sheet no. 23, Harmful Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children," U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Geneva, accessed Aug. 11, 2006.
[8] ECOSOC resolution 821 II (XXXII); ibid.
[9] "Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women," U.N. General Assembly resolution 34/180, Dec. 18, 1979.
[10] "Convention on the Rights of the Child," U.N. General Assembly resolution 44/25, Nov. 20, 1989, art. 24, 3.
[11] Dara Carr, Female Genital Cutting: Findings from the Demographic and Health Surveys Program (Calverton, Md.: Macro International, 1997), p. 1.
[12] Gerry Mackie, "A Way to End Female Genital Cutting," Female Genital Cutting education and Networking Project, Tallahassee, Fla., accessed Aug. 4, 2006.
[13] Eiman Okro, "Weibliche Genitalverstümmelung im Sudan," PhD dissertation, Humboldt University, Berlin (Hamburg: Akademos Science Publishing House, 2001); "Female Genital Mutilation in Africa: Information by Country," Amnesty International, accessed Sept. 1, 2006.
[14] Changing a Harmful Social Convention, p. 3.
[15] "What Is Female Genital Mutilation?" Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit, Frankfurt, Ger., 2005, accessed Aug. 4, 2006.
[16] See, for example, "Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Africa, The Middle East and Far East: Where, Why and How It Is Done," Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, updated Mar. 2005.
[17] Fran P. Hosken, The Hosken Report: Genital and Sexual Mutilation of Females (Lexington: The Women's International Network News, 1993), pp. 275-8.
[18] WADI, offices in Frankfurt and Sulaimaniya.
[19] Janet Menage, "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Women Who Have Undergone Obstetric and/or Gynecological Procedures. A Consecutive Series of 30 Cases of PTSD," Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 11(1993): 221-8.
[20] Data derived from WADI field research in the Garmian region of Iraqi Kurdistan, 2005; Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 10, 2005; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Jan. 21, 2005; "Widespread FGM in Northern Iraq," Global Health Council, Jan. 6, 2005; "Iraq: Decades of Suffering, Now Women Deserve Better," Amnesty International, London, Feb. 22, 2005.
[21] Mackie, "A Way to End Female Genital Cutting."
[22] WADI field research, 2005.
[23] U.N. Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), Mar. 16, 2005.
[24] Ronak Faraj, "Female Circumcision," Women Information and Culture Center, Sulaimaniya, Iraq, 2004.
[25] The Irish Times (Dublin), Oct. 25, 2005.
[26] Judith Götz, " Anmerkungen zu einer Veranstaltung‚ Die politische Lage im Irak," Jan. 28, 2005, accessed Oct. 11, 2006.
[27] NBC News, Oct. 21, 2004.
[28] Mackie, "A Way to End Female Genital Cutting"; Marie Vento, "One Thousand Years of Chinese Footbinding: Its Origins, Popularity and Demise," paper, City University of New York, Mar. 7, 1998.
[29] "American Experience: Kinsey in the News," Public Broadcasting Service, Jan. 27, 2005.
[30] Hosken, The Hosken Report, p. 278.
[31] Michael Rubin, "Sanctions on Iraq: A Valid Anti-American Grievance?" Middle East Review of International Affairs, June, 2002.
[32] "Iraq Living Conditions Survey 2004," United Nations Development Program, Baghdad, 2005.
[33] Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting. A Statistical Exploration (New York: UNICEF, 2005), p. 10.
[34] Ellen Gruenbaum, The Female Circumcision Controversy: An Anthropological Perspective. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000), p. 33.
[35] Hanny Lightfoot-Klein. "Prisoners of Ritual: Some Contemporary Developments in the History of Female Genital Mutilation," presented at the Second International Symposium on Circumcision in San Francisco, Apr. 30-May 3, 1991.
[36] Julia M. Masterson and Julie Hanson Swanson, Female Genital Cutting: Breaking the Silence, Enabling Change (Washington, D.C.: International Center for Research on Women and the Center for Development and Population Activities, 2000), p. 5.
[37] "Female Genital Mutilation: A Joint WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA Statement," Geneva, 1997.
[38] Sami A. Aldeeb Abu Sahlieh, "To Mutilate in the Name of Jehovah or Allah: Legitimization of Male and Female Circumcision," Medicine and Law, July 1994, pp. 575-622.
[39] Ibid.
[40] Razor's Edge: The Controversy of Female Genital Mutilation, IRIN, Mar. 2005; Sheikh Omer, interview, IRINnews.org, U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Mar. 8, 2005.
[41] "Appendix: Is Female Circumcision Required?" Jannah.org, accessed Aug. 11, 2005.
[42] Hosken, The Hosken Report, p. 277.
[43] Ibid., p. 375.

http://www.meforum.org/1629/is-female-genital-mutilation-an-islamic-problem

'Nuf said.

[Dos Equis]

Nooooo.  Not the facts again.   

[George Whorewell]

Only studies conducted by family members of Osama Bin Laden, or news clippings from the Huffington Post, or unedited responses from annonomyus individuals on Rachel Maddows blog will be considered credible news sources on this message board.

BF, you clearly did not recieve the memo.

K.C. nails it again.

[Skip8282]

Nooooo.  Not the facts again.   

No doubt.  BF laying out a wicked beatdown.  And, KC without anything....as usual.

[Parker]

Ahh, our misinformed apologist is back at it. You’re so utterly clueless on this topic yet you feel like contributing. Your spin is a nice attempt at deflection. Methinks you should educate yourself on FGM and who is doing it before you stick your nose in threads like these.

Want to take a guess at which country has the highest prevalence of FGM? It’s Egypt. What religion does more than 90% of the Egyptian population practice? That’s right, Islam. It’s also prevalent in many other Muslim countries.  Nor is it African tribesmen that have been immigrating to England in huge numbers but Muslims from North Africa. And surprise, all those countries listed in the article are largely Muslim.

Go embarrass yourself in another thread, apologist trash. Preferably not one of mine.

There was an article in Ebony Magazine yrs ago about this occuring in the US more, because of influx of Africans in the US particularly from Central, some parts of West African and Solomia. Iman even has a campaign to eradicate female circumcision in Somalia, and female multilation in that (region) country has existedbefore Islams. Even the Egyptians themselves have noted it...

It still sucks, and the reasoning behind it as one Somali put it, "Would you leave your door open."

One of the worst forms of "control" that there is...

[kcballer]

There was an article in Ebony Magazine yrs ago about this occuring in the US more, because of influx of Africans in the US particularly from Central, some parts of West African and Solomia. Iman even has a campaign to eradicate female circumcision in Somalia, and female multilation in that (region) country has existedbefore Islams. Even the Egyptians themselves have noted it...

It still sucks, and the reasoning behind it as one Somali put it, "Would you leave your door open."

One of the worst forms of "control" that there is...

Thank you for bringing the logic in here.  It seems BF and co don't understand this topic very well and would like to just blame Islam and leave it at that. 

"Regarding religious differences, it is now generally recognized that even though a number of the countries where female genital surgeries are found are predominantly Muslim, the practices are not prescribed by Islam and are, in fact, found among non-Muslim groups such as Coptic Christians of Egypt, several Christian groups in Kenya, and the Falasha Jews of Ethiopia. In CDI, the prevelance is 80 percent among Muslims, 40 percent among those with no religion and 15 percent among Protestants, and in Sudan the prevalence is highest among Muslim women (DHS 1989-90). In Kenya, by contrast, prevalence is highest among Catholics and Protestants compared with other religious groups (MYWO 1991). Thus, there is no unequivocal link between religion and prevalence. p.88". -  Obermeyer, Carla Makhlouf - Female Genital Surgeries: The Known, the Unknown, and the Unknowable

"Male circumcision is an absolute requirement of Islam and Judaism, whereas female circumcision is not even mentioned in any religious text. However, scholars of African cultures would testify that on our continent traditional and tribal rituals commonly supersede religion. - http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199501193320313

An Islamic scholar has told delegates attending an African Regional Conference on "Islam and the Family Well-Being" that there was no legal text in Islam authorising the practice of female circumcision and genital mutilation. - http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=77396

Women have been circumcised for thousands of years, and the custom has become deeply ingrained in human thought. Tradition demands that women be circumcised, and it is often the women themselves who wish to continue this ritual, partly to prevent sexual desire in girls. Indeed, an uncircumcised girl is considered worthless on the marriage market in many places because she is perceived as being "impure" and "loose."  Although circumcision is often justified for supposedly religious reasons, there is no religious justification for the practice in either Christianity or Islam. - http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,452790,00.html

Imam Shams-ul-haq Azeemabadi  asserts that, "[t]he Hadith of female circumcision has been reported through so many ways all of which are weak, blemished and defective, and thus it is unacceptable to prove a legal ruling through such ways." - Dr. Muhammad Salim al-Awwa, Secretary General of the World Union of the Muslim Ulemas, "Female Circumcision Neither a Sunna, nor a Sign of Respect

While some scholars reject a hadith that refer to FGC on grounds of in authenticity, other scholars argue that authenticity alone does not confer legitimacy. One of the sayings used to support FGC practices is the hadith (349) in Sahih Muslim: Aishah narrated an authentic Hadith that the Prophet said: "When a man sits between the four parts (arms and legs of his wife) and the two circumcised parts meet, then ghusl is obligatory." Dr. Muhammad Salim al-Awwa, Secretary General of the World Union of the Muslim Ulemas states that while the hadith is authentic, it is not evidence of legitimacy. He states that the Arabic for "the two circumcision organs" is a single word used to connote two forms; however the plural term for one of the forms is used to denote not two of the same form, but two different forms characterized as a singular of the more prominent form.
For example, in Arabic, the word with the female gender can be chosen to make the dual form, such as in the expression "the two Marwas", referring to the two hills of As-Safa and Al-Marwa (not "two of the same hills, each called Al-Marwa") in Mecca.[28]  He goes on to state that, while the female form is used to denote both male and female genitalia, it is identified with the prominent aspect of the two forms, which, in this case, is only the male circumcised organ. He further states that the connotation of circumcision is not transitive. Dr. al-Awwa concludes that the hadith is specious because "such an argument can be refuted by the fact that in Arabic language, two things or persons may be given one quality or name that belongs only to one of them for an effective cause." [e.g. the usage in "Qur'an in Surah Al-Furqan(25):53", "bahrayn" is the dual form of "bahr" (sea) meaning "sea (salty and bitter) and river (sweet and thirst-allaying)", and not "two seas".]

Yusuf ibn Abd-al-Barr comments: "Those who consider (female) circumcision a sunna, use as evidence this hadith of Abu al-Malih, which is based solely on the evidence of Hajjaj ibn Artaa, who cannot be admitted as an authority when he is the sole transmitter. The consensus of Muslim scholars shows that circumcision is for men"[/b] And that's from a guy who died over a thousand years ago. 

But hey all these people are wrong right?   

[Fury]

You argued that it's strictly African. I've shown, in documentation and with studies, that it's not only legal in Islam, but practiced by Muslims the world-over. It is, in-fact, rooted in Islam and you can't come to grips with that because you're blinded by your apologist Muslim stance. However, your argument was proven wrong. Thank you for playing.

The funny thing is that the study I posted directly refutes every single claim you've made. You are exactly the type of person it addresses.

"But hey, all those people are wrong right?"  

The funniest part of your argument is that I post evidence of Sheik's arguing that it's legal and advocated by Islam and you immediately discredit it. You then post an example of Sheik's arguing that it's illegal and not advocated by Islam and think that your argument is somehow more valid. If you're too stupid to see how idiotic that looks, then you might as well just stop posting.

Read over the study I posted five to ten times and educate yourself.